


Golden Silver

by A_Morte_Perpetua_Machina_Libera_Nos



Series: Woken to a dying Millenium [1]
Category: Warhammer 40.000
Genre: Action/Adventure, Dark Age of Technology (Warhammer 40k), Demons, Distrust, Gen, Inquisition Ensemble (Warhammer 40.000) - Freeform, Interrogation, Mind Manipulation, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Torture, minor crossover with "Warboss Gitsalya in Commorragh", short chapters but more frequent updates, you can guess where this is going
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:54:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 35,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29285619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/A_Morte_Perpetua_Machina_Libera_Nos/pseuds/A_Morte_Perpetua_Machina_Libera_Nos
Summary: A surprised Inquisitor finds herself in posession of a stasis-chamber from the dark age of technology. Inside lies a man who is totally unlike what she expected. What is his ultimate plan and why does it have to involve so many damned xenos?
Series: Woken to a dying Millenium [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2180781
Comments: 6
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Authors note: I wrote this instead of sleeping because I believed at the time this was a super good idea. Because of that the story might contain some stupid mistakes. I would be very thankful for pointing them out and I appreciate all constructive feedback. (Be polite please.) I also wrote the first 5 chapters in two days. So *shrug*  
> First fic ever btw. (Trying to learn how to write, because I never got it right.)
> 
> Rejoice.

Chapter 1

“So what is this secret you wanted me to show?” the Inquisitor asked. She feigned boredom to not give away that she was actually extremely interested. Normally members of the Adeptus Mechanicus were tremendously secretive when it came to knowledge, doubly so when it was something new and exciting that they could their greedy little hands and mechandrites on. To share some of their glory was most unusual and had to be investigated immediately.

“Just behind this sacred door.” The acolyte sounded almost excited when he whispered holy prayers to the lock so that the gate would open itself. “It is of utmost importance that you remain quiet and step carefully to not wake the sleeping machine within. I will explain shortly.” The massive red-painted iron doors slid open slowly without as much as a sound. Behind them lay a round chamber completely covered in terminal screens, parchment and incense burners. The smell was so strong the Inquisitor had to almost choke. In the middle of it all stood a shining silver sarcophagus with a small black window on top. Even though it seemed to almost radiate from its mirror like surface, it was covered in burn marks, scratches and what looked liked claw marks. From her position behind the priest he seemed to be barely able to contain himself from the anticipation. A clear sign that he was still mostly human or else he would show no such weakness. She stepped closer while breathing through her mouth to avoid inhaling all the smoke in the air. What she saw surprised her greatly. Rather than a machine, there lay a (from the looks of it) young man inside the pod. His angelic features and smooth perfect skin distracted her for a second, before she realized that he didn´t seem to breathe. Either he was in a stasis chamber or he was dead. This was all very strange but what was so important about this boy that the Mechanicus acolyte had to lead her all the way out here to his laboratory? The man behind her seemed to sense the question and gestured to screen at the side of the room when she turned to face him. He stepped close and whispered while he pointed to some diagrams and pictures.

“This is no ordinary subject. I found him while searching through a space-hulk last week. If my scans of the surrounding wreckage indicate correctly-“he stopped dramatically “than this is human from the dark age of technology.”

“What?” The Inquisitor was unable to control herself. A real survivor from the dark age of technology, was more valuable the maybe this entire section of the galactic map. A discovery so unbelievable, like if one of the lost sons of the emperor returned. She stared at the man in disbelief. Of course it could be a mistake on the rather inexperienced acolyte’s side or a deliberate fake to trick her. But the possibilities if his theory was correct were endless. Now she understood why he was so nervous to get her here.  
“Why have you brought me here?” She asked in her coldest voice. What was his plan? Why had risked the secrecy of this object?

“You know the enthusiasm of some of my brothers. I feared that if I involved them into this affair they would confiscate my discovery. They would hoard all the knowledge and glory for themselves. But it would be nonetheless unseemly and illegal to not inform any higher ranking individuals. So I chose the Inquisition and you in particular to help me with this. I put my trust in you Lord Inquisitor.”

“Was he actually stupid?” she thought to herself. That he kept something so ridiculously important to himself could be enough to execute him on the spot. She stopped herself from immediately putting a bolter shell between his eyes, because he was right. The old magi of the order would definitely keep this ancient one in some highly secure vault on mars to never see the light of day again and rot in silence. That could not be allowed to happen. This boy in the pod was too important. So instead of ending this fool right then and there she would first ask him some questions.  
“What can you tell me about him?”

Eager to talk more about his project the acolyte began: “He seems to be conserved perfectly. When he wakes up it will be as if he just took a quick nap. He has no visible wounds and seems perfectly healthy in every way. His biological age seems somewhere between 18 and 22 standard years old. The interesting part is that he is no normal human. I am at the moment limited to only optical scans through the observational window in the stasis pod. His skin is unnaturally perfect. He has no scars, wrinkles or body hair outside his head and every pore is positioned symmetrically. His facial features are also way too well-balanced to be of biological origin. It is most likely that he was artificially created or at least surgically enhanced.”

“That is all?”

“Without opening the chamber or without better equipment I am unable to obtain any more significant information.”

“Under no circumstances will you open this chamber or let anyone open it. You will not tell anybody about this and if information should leak you will protect this machine and its inhabitant with your life! This is an inquisitorial order. Do you understand?”

“Of course” the techpriest answered sounding slightly offended. “This is a gift from the Omnissiah and is most holy. I will not fail my duty as a servant of the emperor.”

Satisfied with his answer the Inquisitor nodded. “I will ensure that you get the equipment you require and will post additional guards around this chamber. Until then continue your research.”

“That is not all, Lord Inquisitor.”

“Mmh?”

“Hidden at the side of the stasis chamber is small drawer of some sort. I believe it to be gene-coded to the individual inside the apparatus.”

“Good. If that is everything I will now leave. There are many things I have to move in place before we see each other again. Should anything happen or something remotely suspicious occur contact me immediately. I will hold you otherwise personally accountable should any dangerous developments arise. Emperor, be with us.” With these words she was on her way. All her other plans for the near future could wait; she had a lot to prepare.

One week later and she found herself again in the very same chamber that now dominated most of her conscious thoughts. The time really had flown by quickly.  
“What have you learned about our subject in the meantime?” she inquired expectantly.

“With the tools you so graciously granted me I am finally able to look beneath the skin. Though the details are all very unclear because of the protective force field inside the chamber I was able to determine that there are several internal modifications to this body. He seems to possess multiple organs of unknown function in his upper and lower torso as well as an unidentified machine unit in his cerebral cortex. All his bones and teeth are somehow enhanced to adamantine strength. Even his muscles are without exception denser and stronger. His neurons are also packed more densely which could signify to heightened intelligence. But the most curious aspect of all is that he possesses the two pockets of liquid metal inside his body just below the ribs. For what effect I don’t know.”

“Interesting. How long would you guess is he in stasis?”

“Based on some of the organic residue outside his containment I know that he has been in there for at least 15 thousand years but my personal evaluation would be around 20 thousand years. Why do you ask?”

The Inquisitor nearly scoffed. Why did the idiot question her? She was a frakking Inquisitor! With a calm voice and outwardly cold expression she said: “Because he reminds me a lot of an Astartes.”

“Indeed.” hummed the techpriest. “To find out anymore about him would however require physical testing.” The idiot looked hopeful.

“Not yet. We must first plan and arrange everything perfectly before we wake him up. We will also not do here in this insecure location.”

“Very well.”

Once again a week’s time later the Inquisitor stood nervously in the new observation room she had requisitioned. This was by far the most important moment in the whole 220 years of her career and she was deeply ashamed to admit that she was actually terribly afraid of it. So much could go wrong, but the potential was even greater. To reassure herself she glanced at the Grey Knight in the corner of the featureless white room. She had demanded one of them to protect her against possible psychic attacks of her subject and to ward of any possible demonic corruption. Though they had detected no warp taint on him one could never be too sure with anything that came out of a space hulk. The annoying Mechanicus acolyte stood on the other side of the room with his servo skull ready. It was possible the ancient man would not understand Gothic and so she had the techpriest program all available languages into the small servitor. Now it was time. She could not and would not falter before this task the god-emperor had bestowed upon her. One signal to the priest was enough and the pod was opened. A surprisingly difficult step in the preparations given the unknown strangeness of the machine but they managed to brute-force it. The lid slid open and the force field inside dissipated slowly. It took the 5 longest seconds of her life before the stranger finally opened his eyes to a new millennium.  
His eyes were silver. It was the same reflective, shining colour that his stasis chamber had. They seemed to pierce into her soul as they glided over her while quickly scanning the room outside his pod. His arms came forward and gripped the metal railing beside him and he stepped carefully forward into the room. There was a grace to his water-like movements that combined with the perfect smile of angelic face felt intimidating. It was simply to fluid and elegant for a normal human. As soon as he stood fully outside his chamber he spread his arms to his side and seemingly out of nowhere formed silver clothing around his naked form. It resembled a mix out of the robes of the techpriest and the Inquisitors own attire. Slowly, like blood seeping into cloth, it began itself to dye black and white. He blinked and looked at her as if he expected something, light amusement creeping into smile.  
Only decades of training brought the Inquisitor back to her senses. Everything happened way faster than she could have imagined, with it being only a few seconds since the subject woke and she was already shocked. How had conjured these clothes out of thin air? Why was he not the least bit shocked or confused? These questions had to wait for later. First she had to know if he spoke Gothic.

“Greetings. I am Inquisitor Telis of the Ordo Hereticus of his most holy Inquisition of the Imperium of Man. You have slept for around 20 thousand years in stasis. I have awoken you with peaceful intentions. Do you understand my language?”

After a short moment something seemed to click inside her subjects head and he spoke in an aggressively pleasant and melodic voice: “Ah, I see. You speak Latin. I am most pleased to meet you Inquisitor Telis.”

It sounded wrong. Like he spoke her tongue mostly but not quite and somehow distorted. But why did he call it “Latin”?  
“So you can understand me. Very good. We would like to perform a few medical tests on your person to see if you all right. Afterwards we will ask you some questions and then you can get some rest. Does that sound fair to you?”

“Definitely Inquisitor. This arrangement sound highly satisfactory.” he smiled. This sent a shiver down her spine. He sounded almost as if he had expected everything exactly the way it that had happened.  
“Inquisitor Telis would you like to introduce me to these two fine gentlemen here?” he motioned to the Grey knight and the techpriest. There was it again; this aura of self-confidence that made it sound like he knew their names already.

“To my right you can see Masios Tefork a Justicar of the Grey Knights chapter and an angel of his majesty the emperor. On my left stands Win Copterus, techpriest of the Adeptus Mechanicus.”

“I am excited to meet you and wish for a long fruitful cooperation between all of us.” He said while opening his arms wide and smiling even more brightly.”

To the Inquisitor he sounded like rogue trader or a governor that tried to sell something costly. Maybe he was a Merchant? No time to ponder that as the techpriest already neared. At this moment she realized that they still didn’t even know his name. He already had so much information and she didn’t. Her former master would have slapped her in the face for such weak interrogation tactics.

“And what is your name sir, if I may ask?”It wasn’t very subtle but she wasn’t in the best mood right now.

“Of course. You may simply call me Alexander.” No titles? No profession? No second name? He really tried to keep his cards close to his chest. She would ask later.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor proud.
> 
> Note: I just realized that I have used the word "Aeldari" wrong. I thought it means the Eldar language, but it is actually GW´s new name for them. Please don´t get upset. It annoys me to, but I am too lazy to correct it for now. Take care and have fun.

Chapter 2

Copterus eagerly began checking Alexander’s pulse and vital signs by touching his torso with his mechandrites. Where they came close to his body the clothes would vanish, as if flowing inside the body to expose the skin beneath. While this was happening Alexander didn´t do so much as move a muscle and simply stared smiling at the Inquisitor. She noticed that he only blinked when she did, so she tried to stop blinking entirely. This became harder and harder the more time went on, all the while Alexander seemed utterly unfazed. When she finally had to close her eyes, if she didn’t want to tear up in front of her guest, it was clear from the knowing smirk on Alexander's face that she had lost the starring contest. Not wanting to show her childish anger, she looked over to the Astartes that still stood motionless in the corner. Without removing his helmet it would be impossible to discern his emotions, but she thought that he looked somehow bored. The alarm suddenly went off. From the sound of it they were being approached by hostiles.

“Throne damn it!” thought the Inquisitor. She had specifically transported the subject on her personal ship to minimize the risk of his outbreak. Then she had hidden it inside an asteroid-belt to ward off any unwanted intruders. Only her backup-contact on the nearest planet new about her abode here in case of an emergency. But still it obviously hadn’t been enough. Who was the traitor? Maybe some pirates had found them by accident? “Report.” she spoke coldly into her communicator.

“Eldar, from the looks of it, Milady.” came the nervous voice of the captain out of her speakers. “They must have used their optic camouflage to escape our sensors. We are not sure if any more are hiding behind all the debris here, but at the moment we observe two cruisers and one Void Stalker.”

That was bad news. As heavily armed as her “Righteous Wrath” was, it wouldn’t stand a chance against a battleship and two cruisers with possible support ships in hiding. Normally Eldar wouldn’t concern themselves with a lowly human ship, which meant that they wanted something. The only thing of value here was Alexander, she realized. That could not be allowed to happen. Such a treasure must never fall into the hands of a xeno. With an unwavering voice full of resolve she spoke to the captain: “Initiate the complete self-destruction of the vessel: Authorization 1256-Omega-5539-Spes. This is an order. God-emperor have mercy on our souls.”

“This might not be necessary.” said Alexander while gripping her hand and preventing her from closing the com-channel. How had stepped forward so fast without her noticing? He continued: “From my understanding you seem to be hopelessly outnumbered and don´t want to risk me falling into enemy hands. As a man of reason I can understand that completely. What you do not know is that I am perfectly able to deal with such situations and have in fact done so dozens of times already. I am a diplomat by trade and I am sure that we can resolve this problem amicably. All hope is not yet lost. Please tell your captain to set the self-destruction to a timer of two hours. This will be enough time to negotiate with the Eldar. I beg of you. We must not needlessly waste everything, when the chances of success are still high. Please...” At the end he sounded honestly concerned but still determined. He had come closer still gripping her arms as if they were a couple. Together with the pleading look in his silver eyes she somehow couldn’t resist.

“Alright.” She hesitated for moment. “Do as he says Captain. One hour. Not more.” She closed the channel. “What do you need?”

“Oh, only a video- connection to the battleship and your permission to welcome a small delegation of them on board.”

“What?”

“They are a proud race and will not accept a simple meeting over the screen to discuss anything important. We must show them that we respect them by inviting them to us.”

She groaned. This was by far the stupidest and most reckless thing she had ever done, but how could she refuse these eyes that stared into her soul... She suddenly felt very tired. It was probably the stress. So she just waved her hand at him to signify that she accepted his plan.

“Wonderful.” He turned around and walked back to his stasis pod. There he touched it at two seemingly random spots and a small compartment at the side opened up. He took what looked to be a small black cylinder and an equally black orb from inside and stowed them inside two pockets, she was sure hadn’t been there just a moment before. Turning to the techpriest he motioned for the door and smiled: “Would you be so kind to show me bridge of this vessel?”

As they walked the hallway to the elevator she asked him: “What was it that you retrieved back there?”

“Just some security measures.”

A few minutes later on the main bridge he turned back to look her in the eyes. “If you allow me access to a terminal I can translate our conversation live.”

She just shrugged. If he could do that so easily, why not? He strode over to an interface unit and touched it. Sparks flew and the terminal rebooted itself. Instead of the usual skulls and Aquila a clean white textbox with the words “Translation in process” appeared. The techpriest nearly fainted.

“I would appreciate it if you could tell your captain now to establish a connection.”

She noticed his Gothic sounded way cleaner and more natural. Had he already learned to modify his dialect? Another, far more disturbing thing happened. His face seemed to contort in a very inhuman way. The skin stretched and morphed until he looked distinctly like an Eldar. She instinctively had her hands on her boltpistol, but she guessed that this was also part of the plan. The main screen in the front of the bridge lit up and the disgruntled face of a female Eldar could be seen.

After a few seconds Alexander spoke in perfect Aeldari: “Salutations, Farseer Osivae. It has been a long time for the galaxy, but you look not a heartbeat older then when we last parted ways. May you fly forever through the endless expanse to fill the void with your bravery, my friend!”

“Is that you? You also don’t seem to have changed, you fool. Where have you been hiding all this time? If you showed yourself earlier I am sure these dirty humans would have dissected you or put you in some stasis vault!”

“Well- that is precisely where I have been for the last 20 thousand years or so. You wouldn’t possibly know which idiot put me in there?” At that he grinned and cracked his knuckles.

The Farseer laughed. “No, unfortunately I do not know that. But you surly know that we haven´t come by to just refresh old acquaintances.”

Alexander played dumb. “What? You have not come to say your old friend hello after he wakes from his slumber?” he said with mock sadness. “What else are you looking for?”

“Don´t misunderstand me. We are here for you, but not to joke around, rather because we require your assistance.”

“That sounds interesting. How about we talk about it in person? The friendly Inquisitor here gave me permission to use her private quarters for this occasion and I am eager to see what she has in there, if you understand what I mean...”

“I´m sure you do, you pervert. Don´t think I forgot the looks you gave my sister back then.” the Farseer chuckled.

Alexander grinned mischievously. “Come on over then.”

“I will.”

With a sharp crack the connection cut out and Alexander's grin dropped in an instant. “My apologies Inquisitor for the act, but Osivae has a rather warped sense of humour.”

She simply nodded at that. Best not to question why he knew that Eldar in the first place. At least not yet.

\--XX-XX-XX--

Alexander had told them to stay in the background and avoid eye contact, when they prepared the hangar for the welcoming of the “guests”. He had also modified another servitor to serve as a translator while he would talk. She appreciated his transparency, but couldn’t shake away the feeling that he might not translate everything perfectly to manipulate them. As the ramp of the Eldar shuttle descended the tall silhouette of Farseer Osivae could be seen approaching them with her 6 guards in tow. “Argleth, you silver-eyed freak! Good to see you again.”

“What can I say - silver was always my favourite colour.” Alexander bowed, smiling lightly.

“Why did she not call him Alexander? Is that not his real name?” the Inquisitor thought.

“Please follow me Farseer. This place is hardly fit for an intelligent conversation.”

“I doubt any place on this rust bucket is fit for that. That you have the patience to bother yourself with these creatures at all is a miracle.” “They might not be as advanced as I hoped them to be, but they still have much potential. I can sense much bravery and compassion in some of their souls.” The Eldar scoffed at that. She knew she had to use this opportunity. The Farseer was one of the few, maybe the only one that knew Alexander. She simply had to ask another source than the man himself to get to the truth buried beneath all his mysteries.

“Honoured Farseer Osivae, you always talk like he is not a human like us, why is that, if I might ask?”

Even though she thought she had worded her question very politely, the Eldar growled. In broken words that seemed to disgust her as she spoke them, she answered angrily: “Does he look human? Not more mon´keigh than he!” She pointed in the direction of the Astartes. “Maybe even less...” she muttered more to herself than to the Inquisitor.

She couldn’t help but feel like there was some sort of personal affair between the Farseer and her subject. Maybe they were really friends?

Alexander looked at her blankly. “I can assure you Inquisitor that I am a human. My modifications do not change this fact.” His words contrasted sharply with his fake Eldar features. “Let´s go.” He said in Gothic. Back to Aeldari he continued with a smirk “I have much to catch up to and time no longer stands still for any of us.” As they walked down another hallway towards the Inquisitors private quarters, which Alexander magically seemed to know the location of, he continued to banter with the Eldar woman.

The Inquisitor used this time to talk to the techpriest. “When you checked him earlier, did you find anything I should be aware of?”

“Well, he seems to poses way more nerves and small muscles than biologically necessary. My current theory is that he uses them to control every part individually and deliberately. Like what he did with his face or how he is able to produce Aeldari sounds with human tongue. Also his pores seem to be connected to the two compartments in his stomach area. I believe that he is able to produce it from his skin and shape it to his will.”

That was what she had thought of as well. “Very good work Copterus. Continue with recording everything about the subject you can. From body language to his pulse, I want it all.”

“It shall be done Milady.” When they reached her rooms they all were seated at the great bone table the Inquisitor had liberated from a corrupted governor last year. It was a magnificent work of art made from the remains of some prehistoric beast of truly monstrous proportions. Alexander and the Eldar continued to chat about some unimportant business and exchanged niceties. A rare thing from an Eldar. But that only lasted for a few minutes.

“Back on topic. What reason do we have to thank for this unexpected reunion?” The Farseer suddenly grew serious. “I have seen you in my visions. Not you specifically, but the presence of the outsider I saw was very familiar. I have seen this figure destroy a great evil that will befall our home if we act not quickly. Now that you have been reawakened, you must be the one. I am sure of it.”

“Oh, and what kind of evil has this hero helped you with?”

“I don’t know. But I am certain that it will appear soon.”

“The paths of fate are often treacherous and misleading. Only the gods know what you could have seen. Maybe this is all just metaphorical and this evil is more of the spiritual kind and not a physical threat.”

“But we do not know. You will help with it.”

“Yes, even if I am truly the person from your visions, I don’t know if I will be able to help. You see, there are many things I must take care of and I have to learn about this new millennium first. Of course do I want to save you, but what incentive do I have to invest possibly years into something so vague and uncertain? My dear Inquisitor here has awakened me and so fear that I owe her my services first and foremost for the time being.”

“I see. You´re still the same. I don’t assume I can entice you with the prospect of seeing my sister again?” she smiled weakly. “It may not sound like much, but I am still thankful for back then. Please,” she sounded desperate “save us again Argleth. You know it is not my way to beg for anything, but now is not the time for pride. I even give you some of these artefacts we found. I don´t care if that is stupid or not, I just want to sleep again without the nightmares of my family burning...”

At the end her voice nearly threatened to break and even the Inquisitor could see the horror in her eyes. Alexander leaned closer and gripped her hand. Osivae´s guards raised their weapons, but the Farseer just lifted her other hand and made them stop. Alexander was of course unfazed by this and continued to look her deeply into the eyes. His expression softened and he whispered almost lovingly:

“I will never let harm come to you my friend, if it lies within my powers to prevent it. I was there in one of your darkest hours and I will not abandon you now. Fear not. But to be able to help you, I need to uphold also my duty to the Imperium of Man. The Inquisitor and all her servants will have to come with me or else this will be impossible for me. They need your full protection just as I do. Do you understand?” Now he smiled sadly.

“They can come too, I guess.” she said slightly pouting while turning her head to the side.

“Then let us save your home!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor happy.

Chapter 3

After the delegation had left the Inquisitor took Alexander aside and asked him angrily: “Why did you agree to this? Now these Eldar want us to do their dirty-work for them and kill a monster or something stupid like that. On top of that we are helping these xenos without even any gain for us!”

“I am sorry Inquisitor that I didn’t explain it a few minutes ago, because you couldn’t possibly have known this, but we will in fact receive ample compensation for our services. These relics the Farseer spoke of are extremely powerful and will greatly aid us. She doesn’t know that of course or else she would never give them away that easily. Their true potential can only be unlocked if you know many great and terrible secrets, which is why tried to obtain them multiple times from her before without success. Now fate presents us with the perfect opportunity...”

“You are still my subject! My property and that of the Inquisition! You have no right to make such a decision without my consent!”

He gripped her shoulders and looked her deeply into the eyes. With a soft voice he uttered sincerely: “I promise you Inquisitor that this will not happen again. I merely acted for the best of all of us. I am deeply sorry that I didn’t inform you sooner, but things are how they are. No matter how much we wish for things to be different we cannot change the past.”

These silver eyes... He looked so sad and sincere that she just had to forgive him. She felt tired again. “Whatever. Just don’t do it again.”

“I will not disappoint you Milady.”

He excused himself back to his chamber to make “preparations” even though nobody had told him where it was. Of course he was escorted by four of her guardsmen, but it was still odd. She could nonetheless use his absence to ask the Grey Knight a few things. “Did you notice any corruption or sorcery of any kind?”

“No, I did not Milady. But that is because I am unable to sense anything from him at all. It is like his psychic presence is obscured completely. He is no blank, but where a normal person’s soul would be only the faintest glimmer of psychic energy can be felt. If I am allowed to guess, than I would say that he is deliberately masking his presence with a spell or technology far too powerful for me to unravel.”

That didn’t sound good. At all. Normal people would only be so secretive if they had to hide something. Then again, Alexander was hardly normal. It had been an eventful day to say the least, so Inquisitor Telis decided to take a short break and enjoy a cup of hot recaf for a short while. She looked at a chronometer and told the captain to shut off the countdown after only one and a half hour. Sadly the quiet didn’t last very long. Alexander came back through the door followed loosely by the guardsmen who seemed to be barely able to catch up.

“My apologies Inquisitor, but Farseer Osivae wants to start our journey as soon as possible. We should prepare immediately for void travel.”

“How do you know that?” she whined. Alexander looked puzzled. “She just broadcasted it.”

“Yes, but how do you have access to the communications?”

“I have to apologize again Inquisitor. I didn’t realize that the slight trouble with access to the ships systems was a purposeful obstruction. I try to be more careful in the future when extracting information.”

This man! He just hacked her ship´s mainframe without even recognizing it as such.

“I fear that I have further news that will not be of comfort to you.”

She suppressed the urge to massage her temples. “Go on.” “She wishes that we leave our vessel in favour of hers to become her honoured guest for the duration of this mission.”

“He couldn’t be serious.” She thought. “Why didn’t she reveal such details when she was just here?” the Inquisitor bit out in frustration. “She probably deemed in not important enough to waste time with.” Alexander shrugged. “Or she thought it was funny. Like I said, the Farseer has a rather warped sense of humour.”

“And why would we do that?” “From what I gathered their kind does not fancy warp-travel and this ship is not fast enough to traverse real-space sufficiently fast enough. So we have to use theirs to...”

“No” she interrupted him. “No, no, no, no!” In this moment it didn’t matter to her that she sounded like an angry child.

“Inquisitor,” he looked at her like her old master would if she did something stupid “it is our only option if we want to complete this task in a reasonable time.”

“I will not deliver myself to the mercy of some xenos!”

“I can assure you that we will not me at their mercy. They need us. When she spoke about the threat they were facing I could sense that she was speaking the absolute truth. They will not harm any of us if that could endanger our cooperation.” While he was speaking he crept closer and closer to the Inquisitor looking her straight into the eyes. “Everything will be alright. We have them under our control. This change of circumstances will prove no doubt useful to us. Like an old terran saying goes: Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. If we stay on this ship they could easily overpower us. But on their own ship will be able to take hostages and make demands.”

His words were logical. Very logical. She felt weary of all this political nonsense. Alexander was right. At the end everything would surely end up good. So she agreed.

\--XX-XX-XX--

She had only left a skeleton crew onboard the “Righteous Wrath”. The rest of her troops were coming with her. It had been a tight fight for 8 thousand guardsmen and 2 thousand operational personnel on only 20 shuttles, but it had worked out in the end. It was nearly as cramped aboard the “Shining Sparrow” or whatever stupid Eldar name the ship had. Alexander had tried to translate it, but apparently neither the colour nor the animal had any equivalent in the world of humans. Just one more reason to hate these stupid aliens. Why had she agreed to this? This was all so stupid, stupid, stupid, the Inquisitor thought. It wasn’t as cramped as on the shuttles because the massive Eldar battleship lacked space. No, it was because the stupid long-ears didn´t let her men into the “finer” parts of the vessel.

Yet it still was better than most imperial spaceships. Even if the men had to share everything, they still had access to light (yes sometimes that was a luxury on some of the older ships), good beds and hot showers. Even the food, though basic, was surprisingly tasty. It was still alien and she didn’t like it. Of course they complained, but they always did that. They just had to suck it up and wait this whole affair out. She made extra sure to clarify to her subordinates that they were to behave. That meant no blowing stuff up, stealing everything that wasn’t nailed down and under no circumstances were they to harass the rather shapely Eldar ladies that came through from time to time. Sometimes they reminded her of orks. She smiled at that.

Her own quarters lay on behalf of her insistent demands right next to Alexander's. Accordingly they were of similar shape and quality. They reminded her more of a whole building on an agri-world, with their wide open rooms and multiple floors. Light streamed from fake windows and illuminated the admittedly beautiful paintings and sculptures. Everything was crafted from excellent wood or the strange bone like material that seemed to flow and twist when you looked at from the corner of your eye. But in the whole week they had been here their “gracious hosts” hadn’t showed up once. Only sending goons and messengers wasn´t very polite, so she asked Alexander about it.

“They can´t stand your smell.” he simply replied.

It didn’t escape her how he didn’t include himself in that statement. Come to think about it he never smelled of anything. Did he even sweat? She had to ask the techpriest. A distinctly alarming melody howled through the ship, followed by a stream of unintelligible Aeldari. “What did they say?” the Inquisitor asked.

“Something about their dark brothers and sisters attacking from inside the hangar bay.”

“Oh, that is not good.” Her mind raced. How had they even gotten on the ship? Were there collaborators or traitors among the Eldar? Among her own men? That was her second xeno attack in a week. The Emperor really wanted to test her resolve it seemed.

“What do they mean by dark brothers and sisters?” he asked.

“The Drukhari. They are corrupted and twisted by excess and debauchery. They feed on fear and pain and live in a secret city outside the material real. From all the xenos-races they are by far the most despicable ones. Even the other Eldar hate them I believe.”

“Do they have space-time breakers?”

“N-No?” she tilted her head in confusion. What in the Emperor´s name was a "space-time breaker"?

“No problem than. I can take care of it.” “You cannot! I will not allow you to put yourself in danger!”

“Believe me I am well enough equipped to deal with these pirates.” At that he produced a black cylinder from his pocket and threw it into the air. The object fell apart into a dozen small discs.

“Besides, I want to talk to our unwelcome guests a bit.”

The small plates hovered for a short moment before they rearranged themselves into a net like formation.

“Inquisitor let me assure I will be absolutely safe. Please fire at the direction of my absorbers.” He pointed at the wall of discs. “Shoot at you leisure.” He sounded so confident that she simply had to test it.

“Very well.” To not brake any of the possibly priceless artefacts she aimed at the space between them and gave a single shot from her laspistol. The shot simply disappeared before it could hit the wall behind the discs. Repeated fire proved similarly successful.

“Try your kinetic weapon.” suggested Alexander. She fired a single bolter round. Only due to years of training was she able to stay concentrated over the loud explosion in an enclosed space and the recoil of the heavy weapon. The shell also simply vanished.

“You see there.” Alexander pointed at the ground. The Inquisitor leaned closer and noticed a small pile of dust lying beneath the discs. “Completely atomized. Nothing will be able to pass through this absorber field.” He turned to face her and looked her deep into the eyes. “It will be safe Inquisitor. Nothing bad will happen. If you accompany me than I will be totally secure.”

Those eyes simply couldn’t lie. She knew that. She would keep him safe. Maybe... no. No time to think, she was just too tired. Without a care in the world Alexander somehow lead the way in this alien ship without a map or any kind of guidance. His confidence was sometimes scary to behold. So down into the chaos they went.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor excited.

Chapter 4

They were soon greeted by the sounds of discharging rifles and explosions. Around the corner they could see dead bodies lying around. All of them were horrific, twisted abominations of metal and flesh. Green blood oozed out of the pale scarred flesh.

“They truly must be mad to attack a ship of this size.”

“Or there here for something specific”

“You think they want you?

“Don´t joke around, Inquisitor. Of course they are not here because of me. I am only back to the galaxy for about a week´s time. As important as I may seem to you, I am certainly not all that significant to all the other races.” He chuckled obviously amused.

“What else than?” She still wasn’t convinced that they weren’t after him after all.

“Who knows? A ship like this one holds many secrets. But if I were to guess, than probably the Farseer.”

She didn’t get to ask why he thought that, because a volley of fire ripped through the hallway. Decades of trained instincts were about to kick in as she scrambled for cover, when she remembered that all the shots were being absorbed by the invisible shield of the discs. Alexander lazily ripped a gun from one of the dead bodies on the floor and gave it a quick glance over. Without even aiming he fired through the shield and flung the weapon of the attacker out of his hands. Two following shots shattered his feet and send him to his knees. Another two in the shoulder joints left his arms uselessly hanging by his side. He dropped the gun and strode over to the wounded man.

His face contorted again to mimic an Eldar as he spoke to him. As no reply came he violently ripped the mask of the man’s head and lifted him by his throat. This act revealed the disgustingly pale features of a Drukhari. He spoke again, this time sounding angrier. The dark Eldar tried to spit at him, but Alexander's was quicker and punched him with a wet cracking of teeth and bone into the face. He brought him closer to his face to lock eyes with him. After a few moments of calm talking the body of the Drukhari went limp and he spoke with a rasping voice from his sore throat. Alexander patiently listened until he was seemingly satisfied. In one elegant motion he snapped the Eldar´s neck and threw him to the ground.

“This despicable individual had sadly no relevant information for us Inquisitor. Apologies, for not bringing a translation device. If you stick this into your ear,” at that he produced a small silvery button from his open palm. It looked like it grew straight out of his flesh. “you should understand what I am saying, provided you do stay always close to me.”

She took the earbud hesitantly. It was probably made from the metal inside his body, but that wasn’t what disturbed her. It just bordered on the heretical to create something like that. But damn it, the Mechanicus wasn’t here. It felt smooth and cold under her touch and fit perfectly into her ear. As if it was made specifically for her. What it was, when she thought about it.

They continued their journey through the empty and sometimes bloody corridors. Bodies were strewn around. More abominations, some Drukhari and many Eldar. Suddenly the noises grew in intensity just around the corner. Alexander stepped completely unconcerned into the open only to be met by more gunfire.

His voice sounded clearly out of her ear piece: “Where is your leader? I am in dire need to talk with them. Stop this senseless violence and be spared. Resist and you will be destroyed.” As if to demonstrate his peaceful intentions he raised his hands. Alexander's voice picked up again in her ear, but it was different. As if he was trying to imitate another voice and speak in its stead. She could see the lips of woman at the front of the group of dark Eldar move, but didn’t hear a sound. Instead only Alexander's translation was audible.

“Who are you, little mouse? Are you a human? You don’t look like one. I think I will add you to my collection if you beg nicely.”

“Are you the commander of these troupes? My freedom is unfortunately not negotiable, but I am nonetheless sure that we can reach a beneficial agreement for both of us. Just say what do you want and we can certainly find the right prize...”

“You talk big for a human.” She interrupted. “An unarmed one at that. Bring him to me and kill his little girlfriend.”

Some irrational part of her mind was more enraged that this witch had called her his girlfriend than that she order to kill her. The Inquisitor readied her bolter at the advancing women. Alexander stopped her though before she could fire. He simply flicked his hand in the direction of the Drukhari and his invisible shield moved forward with lightning speed. The four women in front of their leader were reduced to dust instantly. Leaving only a grey pile of dirt on the floor behind. Then the field of discs split in two groups that went around the commander and exterminated the remaining survivors in a matter of seconds. To her credit the witch thought fast and levelled her own gun at Alexander.

“Nooooo” howled Telis as she threw herself in the line of fire. Too late. The shot had already impacted on him and...

“What?”

The poisonous looking dart simply fell harmlessly to the ground. Her and the Drukhari´s shock bought enough time for Alexander to summon his discs back to his front. He moved forward again without a care in the world, as if this was completely normal.

“It appears that you lost your bargaining position. The only option left for you is a painless in exchange for cooperation. Do you understand?”

“What are you?” cried the dark Eldar while taking a step back.

Alexander just smiled. “I am man in a position more powerful than you. Submit.” His silver eyes flashed brightly. “Submit!” he growled in voice that didn’t seem to be his own. It was far deeper and darker. “Submit!” he repeated. At that the witch clutched her ears and screamed in horror. He stepped closer and looked her deep into the eyes. “Submit!”

“Ye-Yess” she quivered with her shaking body crouched low.

He got closer still. “What did you want here?”

A dark Eldar afraid? That was truly odd. And somehow more terrifying than the creature itself.

Behind a barricade of rubble and furniture moved some Eldar warriors who seemingly had been pinned down there by the assault of the Drukhari before they arrived. Alexander didn’t break eye-contact with the witch, but motioned them to come closer. One seemed to be wounded and the rest was rather bruised and scratched. There probably hadn’t been enough time for them put all their armour on when the attack started.

Alexander repeated the question with a cold edge to his words: “What did you want here?”

The woman shook with fear. “S-Something powerful. M-Mistress said... it would save us in the f-future.”

 _“So they were after him.”_ The Inquisitor felt somewhat satisfied that she had been right.

“A black stone.”

Or maybe not. The feeling of smugness vanished from her mind.

“Where is your Mistress now?”

“Back home.”

“I am afraid that your Mistress sent you all to your deaths. These Eldar here do not possess something like that.” He gestured at the direction of the survivors that came slowly closer.

“Noooo...” the Drukhari wailed.

“Only I do.” He pulled out the black orb she had seen him take from the stasis pod.

Her eyes clung to the dark sphere as if her life depended on it.

“Your decision now will shape your fate. Tell the rest of your troupes to come here and I will show you its power or don’t and be reduced to dust.”

The dark Eldar obviously didn’t like the offer, but her eyes still hung greedily on the orb. So she complied and called her remaining soldiers to gather and come to her location at once.

“Very good.” Alexander walked over to a wall and seemed to search something. After a few seconds he punched simply through the material and shoved his arm inside. Nothing happened for a while than the lights flickered and went out completely. The only light source was violet lighting that connected from Alexander's fingertips to the orb that hovered over his open palm. The whole scene lasted only a few heartbeats, but it was enough to burn itself forever into the Inquisitors memory. The way his expressionless features were painted in black and purple was just like a nightmare come true. Then the lights came back on.

The sphere on the other hand seemed to have disappeared. Like as if it was cut out of existence. Or as if in its place was now a bottomless hole that sucked up all light that touched it. Without another word Alexander stretched his hand in the direction where sounds of footsteps were coming from one of the corridors. His invisible shield immediately raced in their direction and after a short shriek only silence followed. It was so eerie that the Inquisitor got goose-bumps.  
Black and purple lightning suddenly sprung forth from the orb and connected to the piles of dust that lay strewn about. From the ashes grew some sort of plant. No, not plants, but bones. Then followed muscles and nerves that tangled themselves together and at the end formed skin and clothing. The very same Drukhari from earlier were now standing there motionless.

 _“Was this warp sorcery?”_ the Inquisitor asked herself.

Alexander spared the surviving witch on the floor not a look as he turned to shocked Eldar warriors and told them: “Take her. Do what you want with her. She is now under your justice.”

He turned back to the still rigid replicas of the people he had killed only minutes ago and without any form of command they turned around to face him as well. His voice was lifeless and devoid of threat or authority when he spoke to them, but it still sent shivers down her spine.  
“Act normal. Infiltrate your people. Kill anyone of your kind that asks too many questions. Return to your city and survey it. Try to collect as much important information as you can. If you can avoid it try not to harm any humans or Eldar you come across. Now go.” As one unit they twisted around and took off in haste.

“What in the Emperor´s holy name was that?”

“It is easy to absorb the energy that holds matter together, but it is infinitely harder to bind it anew. Their souls are now part of the orb and stand under my control. They are now servants of you as well. ”

“But that´s...” there weren’t any words to describe it. Maybe one and it began with “here” and ended with “tical”.

“It was only possible because the ones in the hallway there just died and hadn’t left the material plane just yet. They are not the original souls of these bodies, but it will not make a difference.”

“That´s not what I wanted to know!”

“It may seem scary at first. That is only natural. But look at it from this way, Inquisitor. Their whole wretched lives they have known nothing but evil and misery. Now they are able to redeem themselves for the greater good of humanity. Finally will they be of use to this galaxy! Isn´t that wonderful?”

“Yes, but resurrection and necromancy are clearly heretical and should be purged immediately!”

“Is that so? How lucky that this isn’t necromancy.” he smirked.

“Of course it is! You just put their souls back into bodies. Bodies of people you killed before!”

“It seems you perhaps misunderstood me Inquisitor and I am very sorry for that. Their souls hadn’t left this universe yet and were therefore still alive. These vessels were also not the original bodies, but merely copies made from the same materials. They are not walking corpses, but more so biological machines.”

“Whatever.” murmured the Inquisitor. She could look past this little heresy if he shared his finding with her. He was from a different time after all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor grateful.

Chapter 5

The Farseer was not happy to the let some of the intruders go. Even after Alexander explained what he did to them she still was reluctant to do so. They at least had captured their leader and killed all the others, so her thirst for vengeance was at least somewhat stilled. Apparently her own daughter was wounded by them so that also probably explained her temper a bit. The fact that these people were now walking corpses on the other hand left her completely cold. As the Inquisitor asked why, she just replied sharply: “Their souls were already gone.”  
Overall everything was going smoothly until she questioned one of the higher officers why these dark Eldar had been able to invade them in the first place. It was one of their best battleships after all.

“Stupid mon´keigh. Don´t understand anything. No mind for tactics.” was the only reply she got. So to no longer waste her time with the angry xenos she went back to her quarters. The Inquisitor remembered that she still hadn’t properly interrogated Alexander appropriately. The events of the last week had been simply too time consuming to do so. Now was as good as any time to do so.

“Alexander, would you care to join me for a little conversation with me and brother Masios?”

He looked up from the book he had been reading. “Certainly. I am curious about a few things as well.”

_“This was supposed to be an interrogation! He shouldn’t be the one asking questions. Whatever...”_

They went to her quarters and settled around one of the large wraith-bone tables in living space.

“Well, I would like to ask you some more personal questions to find out a bit more about you, if that is alright with you?”

“So be it. I guess I owe you some explanations.”

“Let’s start at the beginning. You said some time ago that you were a diplomat?”

“Perhaps I worded that a bit incorrectly. I am more of a negotiator and pioneer. You could say that my job consists most of the time of making contact with known and unknown civilizations and groups of interest to pacify and study them for further negotiations. This includes aliens, humans and everything in between. As such I am of course familiar with actual combat as well as more diplomatic approaches. I hope that answers your question Inquisitor.”

So he had been in contact with all kinds of possibly corrupting influences. That warranted further examination.

“Are you aware of the existence of the ruinous powers, the warp and the false gods within?”

“I am aware of the dimension you would call chaos, yes, and I know of some entities that call themselves gods.”

“Are the powers you wield directly or indirectly in any form related to warp sorcery?”

“No. They are a product of technology and science.”

“The orb as well?”

“Yes.”

“Are you part of any religious organization or cult?”

“No. I have not met or heard of any beings as of yet that would be worthy of devotion.”

She let that stand. For now. He would have to be indoctrinated into the imperial cult at a later time.

“Where does your allegiance lie?”

“I do not understand. If you want to know whom I serve than my answer would naturally be humanity.”

“Which part of it?”

“All of it of course.” He raised his eyebrow questioningly.

There had to be more. The Inquisitor knew it. Something else was surely motivating him.

“Do you have any family? ... Had, I mean?”

“I am unsure what you would classify as family. I had a near infinite number of brothers and sisters as far I am aware; some very similar to me in looks and function, others very different. Yet none of them I would consider _family_.”

She had read everything about the dark age of technology that she could get her hands on in preparation of his awakening, but this was surprising. The superhuman abilities, the intelligence, the strength... It all made so much sense now, if she considered what he was:

A Man of Gold.

He only looked at her with mild interest when she told him her theory.

“What is that?”

“A term to describe creatures like you. Ones created by humanity in ages long past to serve them aid them in their first conquest of the stars. A miracle of flesh and bone made manifest by the wonders of old.”

He snorted. “I told you already Inquisitor, that this is incorrect. I am just as human as you or brother Masios over there.”

“But you were made!”

“Yes, it is true I was artificially created. My whole existence came only into being because I had a purpose, a role to fill. And every action I have ever taken in my long life was to further this goal. Yet are you not in a similar position? Are you not a devout servant of your order and dedicate your whole life to it? Is that metal leg of yours not also fabricated? What makes us both so different, I ask.”

How had he known of her leg? She kept it well hidden under her mantel and never took her boots of. It was irritating when Alexander did something like that. To distract herself she asked the first question that came to her mind.

“How old are you exactly?”

“I lost count a couple of centuries ago, but certainly a few millennia. It is rather hard to keep track of something as irrelevant as this.”

Thoughtful silence filled the air.

“I know it is unseemly to ask a Lady after her age, but you simply made me too curious. How long have you been around Inquisitor?” the amused tone of his voice didn’t seem to fit the look in his eyes.

“Around 230 standard years.”

“Is that a normal age for humans in this age?”

“No. Most live only till 60 or 70.”

“And how much of that 2030 years did you spent in service?”

“220.”

“Impressive, I must say. To follow the call of duty so young...”

“It wasn’t entirely voluntary at first.”

“Ah. And have you ever killed another human before?

“Only if necessary or in self-defence.”

“Have you destroyed lives before? Robbed people of their families? Laid waste to cities?”

“Yes, you could say that...”

“And have you ever regretted it?”

“Never.” She really didn’t mean to, but I came out choked and raspy when she said it.

“Then you hopefully see by now that the distance between you and most of humanity reaches far wider than the distance between us. So if I am not a human, what are you Inquisitor?”

It seemed her comment had more thoroughly upset him, than initially believed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor thankful.

Chapter 6

The rest of the conversation was spent in similar manner, but with little actual information being exchanged. Apparently he wasn’t in the mood to be very helpful at the moment so she decided to call it quits and go to sleep in her exquisitely soft bed. Just as she stood up a melodic ringing from the door signalled the presence of a visitor. Alexander strode over and opened it. Outside stood a familiar face, but the Inquisitor couldn’t quite place her finger on it where she had seen that Eldar girl before.

“Hello, how may I help you?” he asked with a gentle smile, perfectly polite as always.

“I wanted to thank you for rescuing us during the attack. My mother thinks very highly of you, even though you are a human, so I didn’t want to let this go unsaid. I appreciated your interference back then immensely and am eternally grateful that you saved my life Argleth.”

Now she remembered. That was the wounded girl from behind the barricade. It seemed like it was years ago even if just a few hours had passed. All her injuries also appeared to have disappeared in such short time... Eldar healing technology truly was marvellous.

“Ah, think nothing of it. I am prone to helping people wherever I can. But now that you mention it...“ He looked at her face like if he was studying a particularly interesting insect. “You must be Osivae´s daughter. Would you care for a cup of tea at this late hour? The stash that the captain provided me with is truly excellent. You must be quite exhausted after your heroic fight and I am very curious about you myself. Please indulge me for a few short minutes.”

At first she looked unsure, but she composed herself quickly. “It is the least I can do.”

“Wonderful!” he cheered, now possessed by boundless energy. “Inquisitor, if you could come with me please to help me prepare the tea?”

_"What was he up to?”_ the Inquisitor thought. He didn’t need help for something as trivial as that.

When they turned around the corner into the kitchen area he nearly whispered to her: “Be as nice and open as you can. Show all your friendliness and softness that I know you are capable of. This young girl has likely never met other humans before so we have to impress her.”

Without another word went on to prepare the water and leaves. While they waited he grinned at her. “Time to make a good impression.”

The girl sat at the table and looked uncomfortably away from the silent Astartes in the other corner. He was always quiet under his helmet unless he was asked something directly; so most of the time you could almost forget that he was there. Almost. If there wasn’t this slight aura of violence and hatred around him that felt like it could escalate at any moment. She Eldar seemed to sense it tenfold.

“I hope my friend Masios here has not frightened you too much. He can be a bit grumpy at times, but he has a great heart once you learn more about him.”

The mood of the girl improved quite visibly upon hearing his voice and she noticeably relaxed in her chair.

“You must forgive me for not immediately recognizing you. I believe in all our years of acquaintanceship Osivae has never deemed me important enough to even introduce me to her lovely daughter. I am afraid she hasn’t even graced me with your name. Even at the meeting just now she hid you from me. Are you sure she thinks highly of me? It seems I am rather shunned to be denied something as nice as that.”

She blushed slightly, oblivious to the blatant flattery. “Oh, my name is Telria. Please don’t think ill of my mother, she surely didn’t mean to offend you. From what she told me you apparently slept the last 20 thousand years or so in a sarcophagus so you couldn’t possibly know me. I was born only a few decades ago by your standards.”

He served the tea professionally and sat down on the chair next to her.

“Is that so? But that is certainly no excuse to not at least show me a picture of you! I will have to complain about that to her later.” He wiggled his finger accusingly in the air.

His mock-indignation was completely missed by her. With a frightened voice she quickly interjected: “No please don’t. It was certainly not her fault! I´m sorry! I should have come sooner if that is what you wanted. I...”

“No, I am sorry. I was just making fun while we were getting to know each other better.” He gripped her hand for a short moment and looked her deep into the eyes. “I didn’t mean to upset you. It was just a little joke.”

“Oh.” Her cheeks flushed a bit more and she averted her eyes and took a sip from her teacup.

“You know, I have been around your mother for so long that her humour might have rubbed off on me a tiny amount.”

His smile was meant to reassure the girl and his eyes radiated warmth, but Inquisitor knew that it was only an act. It had to be. Or maybe...?

“And who is the wonderful father to such a charming young woman?”

Her gaze immediately hardened and her small smile vanished.

“He walks no longer among us.”

“I am terribly sorry to hear that. He must have been a very honourable and noble man to be chosen by Osivae.”

“Yes, yes he was.”

“What was his name?”

“Daralath.” she said quietly.

“Daralath would surely be very proud of who his daughter has become. To show such bravery as you have today in the face of such horrible enemy is no small thing. Even when wounded you didn’t surrender or flee. No you stood your ground and waited until backup arrived. A very wise decision.”

The Inquisitor had to suppress a snort. He made hiding behind cover sound very brave.

Telria looked at him only with astonishment. “Do you think so?”

He took her hand again between his own and said so sincerely, that it made the Inquisitor almost laugh: “I know it.”

Her eyes were wide enough to make her look like a small child.

“Have you already chosen a path in life?”

“I want to be a healer.”

“Ah, a healer. A very good choice indeed. This world always needs more capable hands to relieve the people of their pain and misery. The galaxy has more than enough of that. It will not always be easy for you, but fulfilling nonetheless. I speak from experience.”

Her eyes became even wider if that was somehow possible.

“Mother doesn’t think I have what it takes to be one.”

“Nonsense! If that is what you truly want than nothing in this world has the power to stop you. Even if you lack some of the skills now, you can always acquire them later. You must believe in yourself dear Telria! You can definitely do it.”

“Oh... Thank you.”

“It´s nothing but the truth.”

They continued with a discussion about finding your own destiny and Eldar poetry at which point the Inquisitor completely tuned out. She just sipped at her tea and smiled encouragingly in the direction of the increasingly lively looking girl. She may be a xeno, but she was cute. After what must have been half an hour Alexander finally ended the conversation politely and bade her home under the pretext that she had been wounded earlier and needed all the rest she could get.

“Thank you for giving me such good advice Argleth. I will keep it in my heart.”

“There is nothing to thank for. I am just glad that I could help. I trust that you know these halls better than I and will find your way back safely?”

She smiled at him brightly. “Of course Argleth.”

“I hope we can meet sometime again in the near future if you don’t have anything against the idea.”

“I would very much like that.”

“Excellent! Sleep well Telria. We will arrive in a few days and we all need to be in top condition. Ha-ha.”

“I will. See you soon!” With that she waved her hand and hurried away.

Alexander still smiled as he turned towards the Inquisitor and shut the door.

“What a sweet girl. She will be very helpful in the future.”

“Why is that?”

He looked at her with a raised brow. “Because she is the Farseer´s daughter.”

“How are you two so familiar in the first place?”

“I saved her life once and in turn she helped me with some business. Than we travelled together for a few years, before we parted ways.”

“Hadn´t you places to be? I mean could you really just disappear for a few years with an Eldar?”

“It was no vacation, make no mistake. It was to nurture diplomatic relations with the many races we came across and with the Eldar themselves of course. Like the one you see know.” He gestured around him to the very alien design of the Eldar ship.

“Even then I and my fellow colleagues didn’t plan in years or decades. We planned in millennia. The galaxy was big and our dreams for it even bigger.”

Did he still plan things like that? Even more concerning, were his plans from 20 thousand years ago still in operation? What events in the galaxy happening right now were indirectly his doing? Maybe she didn’t want to know.

“Do you want to hear something funny Inquisitor?” The look he gave her was very strange.

“Yes?”

“I nearly married Osivae´s sister once.”

She almost choked on her tongue that moment.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor satisfied.

Chapter 7

The ship finally arrived two days later at the Craftworld. It wasn’t just gigantic, it was unbelievably massive. The stories about its size didn’t do it justice; it truly was the size of a planet. Their own battleship seemed like an insect in comparison. The Inquisitor wondered if its own gravity could lead to moons of garbage forming and circling around the world eventually.  
When the Craftworld filled the whole screen of her observational cameras she noticed that they weren’t slowing down in the slightest. Their ship slipped straight through a unassuming looking hole in the side. One amongst thousands of others the same size or even bigger. Deeper and deeper they went through a maze of graceful pillars and sleek organic looking arches and joists, each one multiple kilometres in size. It boggled the mind.   
She just took it all in, before they were called down to the hangar bay to meet up with the others that would form the first landing party. The concept of bringing the most important people of the ship all into one place seemed dangerous and foolish to her, but she complied.   
Even though there had been guards sent to escort them Alexander lead the way in his typical carefree fashion. His self-confidence was as expected as it was astounding.

While the shuttle took off his robes changed and morphed until they resembled typical Eldar clothes and his face changed in the same manner. To deform oneself as to take on the face of the enemy was disgusting to the Inquisitor, but she curiously noted that his attire had little skull motives at the edges and a small sign of the Inquisition above his heart. At least he still showed loyalty to the Imperium so she let it slide without commenting on it.

They were greeted by a small army standing at attention. Maybe 1000 or 2000 soldiers in neat lines with perfect symmetry. Their faces were obscured by identical masks that portrayed no emotion. These Eldar had at least the decency of wanting to impress them. At the end of the corridor they all formed with their bodies, waited a committee of what appeared to be higher ranking officers and other Seers. Alexander gave her a cheerful smile before they stepped outside the shuttle, probably to assure her that everything was alright. As if she would need that. She had far faced stranger and more dangerous situations already. Not often, but still.

When they reached the delegation at the end of the formation a flurry of introductions began to rain down on them. It would have offended the Inquisitor that they were all exclusively directed at Alexander and not her or her entourage, but she frankly didn’t care about any of these xenos. Their names were all unimportant when she could just ask Alexander and his perfect memory at any time. Her musings were stopped by a sudden outbreak from him regarding an Eldar woman who had just removed her mask to reveal a very beautiful face. Even for an Eldar.

“Ah hello! It is a true pleasure to lay eyes upon you again Alvara. It has been far too long that I have missed your sight. From the moment your dear sister chose to bless me with her presence I have been eagerly awaiting our reunion and truly, merely 20 millennia have done nothing to tarnish your beauty. All this time has not diminished my appreciation for you in the slightest. You look as ravishing as ever General Alvara.”

“Argleth, I could say the same about you. Even if you are born of lesser breed I always considered you one of us. When I look at some of my newer recruits maybe even better than most.”

“You could not possibly imagine how much that honours me Milady. My heart threatens to burst from joy. Even if flattery it still fills me with gratitude that you would deem me worthy enough to waste such pretty words on.” He bowed at that.

“What I spoke was merely the truth my friend. Only you could be precious enough to me to be praised in such a way. But not you are who should be grateful. We are the ones who owe you thanks for coming all this way just to help us once again. My sister does not trust easily, but you here are beloved by her as well. A true friend and a powerful ally indeed.”

“Oh Alvara...”

“Stop the sweet-talk already. All these pleasantries are making me sick. You two can talk about this in private so let´s get going already.”

Alexander shook his head in amusement. “How I missed it... Osivae always ruining our fun.”

“Yes. Sometimes she can be a real mood-killer.” she smiled.

All this fraternization with a technical enemy was grinding on the Inquisitor´s nerves . She would rather burn all these aliens right here and now, but alas... Instead she took Alexander aside and moved her mouth close to his ear. “Is this an act or are you two really this close?” she whispered.

“Both Inquisitor. Both. But rest assured that this will not impact my operational abilities in any way or call my loyalty to mankind into question. It is simply an old friendship.”

“If you say so.” She definitely hoped that it was the truth.

Together they all walked through a maze of gigantic hallways that each could have rivalled a normal cathedral until they arrived at a board room. Inside everybody took their places around a large table and waited. The Inquisitor was unsure if they expected anything from them so she kept quiet and waited for Alexander to make a move.

After what felt like an eternity of silence he spoke: “I am sure Osivea already told you all the details of our little arrangement long in advance before she took a ship and went out to find me, but please allow me to restate the obvious. She was plagued by terrible nightmares of impending doom that caused her much grief. Her only hope seemed to be a mysterious figure that looked somehow familiar to her who would defeat the evil and restore her undoubtedly bright future. She seems to believe this person to be me and has therefore enlisted my help in this operation. As a sort of a freelancer I myself have formed a partnership with other experts who will aid me in our quest. I wish for a fruitful and respectful cooperation to save this world and its inhabitants from ruin.”

He looked each Eldar around the table into the eye.

“Farseer, were you able to learn anything new about the threat we face? Any indication would prove invaluable.”

“Sadly I have seen nothing specific yet. Only that it is a great evil that threatens all of my people here.”

“Back then you were able to predict how every leaf of any tree in your gardens would fall a week early. What happened to all that talent?” he joked.

“How dare you human question her? Have you no shame?” an angry voice interjected.

“Quite on the contrary Colonel Callyth. I value her so much that I give her my honest opinion. All this superstition and overconfidence on your part will only ever lead to ruin and failure. I am not here for the nice company even if that is certainly a bonus.“ He smiled at Alvara. “No, I am here to solve a pressing problem your venerable Farseer has trusted me with. In such a case I would advise you to cool your temper and watch your tongue carefully, for I am only here on my own good will.”

“Who do you think you are that you can order me around? You worthless piece of...”

“That´s enough Callyth. He is our guest of honour so behave yourself! Do you want us to look bad in front of a human?”

The man seemed to barely hold it together, but kept quiet. His silent rage was honestly quite amusing to the Inquisitor, who in turn had to hold back a grin.

“My apologies Argleth. It seems like the good Colonel had very little sleep last night. The preparations for your arrival must have stressed him out completely.”

“I understand completely. It is no doubt an enormous task to always care for so many people here and now also so many newcomers. No apologies needed.”

“With that out of the way, I think it would be best for us all to go back to our stations and for our guest to get a little rest. The journey has certainly been exhausting.”

“That sounds fantastic, but before that I would like to be supplied with as much information about the inner workings of the Craftworld as possible. The earlier our search for any suspicious activities inside the ship is finished, the earlier we will be able to concentrate on any threat from outside.”

The inquisitor very much approved of this idea. Callyth seemingly didn’t.

“Ridiculous! To imply there could be any corruption within our halls is insulting! I will not...”

“Colonel, what did I say? You really must be more tired than I already thought. Maybe you should go back to your quarters as well and calm down a bit. Now.” The last word was unambiguously an order although it was spoken very softly. His fists clenched tightly and he shot Alexander a hateful glare, but promptly turned around and stamped out of the room. Alexander seemed utterly unfazed by this and just continued to smile at him even as he left.

“Was it really necessary to antagonize one of their leaders in such a way?” the Inquisitor asked him quietly when nobody was looking at them.

“Yes it was. If we want to conduct some deeper investigations we will need the trust and respect of these people. I may be friends with two of them, but the rest will not so easily accept me. Even if they think of themselves as the highest and mightiest of all species they still function like animals. Show any semblance of fear or submission and they start pouncing on you. We must act strong and determined if we want to win them over.” he answered. But he did so without even looking at her or moving his mouth. It was his earpiece she realized. She still had it on to understand the Eldar all around her, but it hadn’t occurred to her that on this way he could speak to her directly.

As the chatter around them quieted down Alvara raised her voice once again: “Argleth, you have demonstrated on many occasions your trustworthiness as well as your investigation skills so we will grant you your request. However we also have to guard some of the secrets of our people, which means that not everything will be revealed to you. Please do not consider this as proof of our doubt in your dependability, but as a promise to our people that we have to protect at all costs. I am sure you understand.”

“I do. Not everything can be shown to an outsider. That is perfectly reasonable. I am very proud to be initiated into even the most basic of secrets you have so closely kept over the millennia.” he said with a small bow.

“I will send plans and some scriptures to your rooms later. Please enjoy your stay.”

And with these words the meeting was finished.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor nostalgic.

Chapter 8

“Isn´t this all a invaluable opportunity for you?” Alexander asked her with a smirk. “To learn so much about the inner workings of one of your mighty foes?”

“Yes, it is.” she replied exhaustedly. “But it´s just too much. I could never read all of this.” Her gaze shifted back to the mountains of scrolls and books that littered multiple tables of her apartment. “Especially if I have to translate everything through to cogitator. I don’t even know where to begin!”

“Do not worry Inquisitor. You have all the time you need. We are not going anywhere in the near future. Even though I would like to begin our investigations as soon as possible”

Why not now? She didn’t really want to read hundreds of pages about the sewer system or the energy transportation throughout the ship. It could be a little fun at least.

“Let’s go. Sounds like a good idea to not hesitate with something of such importance.”

“Excellent. Your expertise will greatly help me in identifying anything suspicious. If I understand correctly you specialized in hunting down criminals?”

“Not directly. Criminals, chaos worshipers, traitors and the like. Generally anything and anyone that is heretical and could be of potential harm to the Imperium.”

“Where would you start an inspection like that?” He gestured to a map of the Craftworld.

“Let´s see. Threat unknown, location unknown and motivation unknown. With a ship of this size it will be impossible to search it all. Even if we had years it would not be enough. Just to make sure we should at least examine the most important locations first. They are a likely place of attack or sabotage. The engine room, the food storages, the primary and secondary command bridge,...” The list went on quite a bit before she stopped herself. Looking at Alexander's knowing smile she decided that he had probably already identified them all and devised a strategy of dealing with each one of them.  
“Why are you wasting time? Go ahead!”

“As you wish.”

\--XX-XX-XX--

They had to use a train like transport system. It only really differed from a human one in the incredible speeds at which it operated. The distance from one side of the Craftworld to the other took only an hour or so. Still it was a lot of time just sitting around and getting stared at by other Eldar. Both she and Alexander were the subject of much interest in equal measure. She because she looked obviously human without Alexander's shape shifting abilities and Alexander because news of his arrival and Osivae´s prophecy had apparently already made the rounds.  
_“Were the high-ranking officials so stupid as to tell their people about this or was there a traitor that couldn’t keep his mouth shut?”_ the Inquisitor pondered. It mattered not when the majority of the Eldar on this public transport were polite enough to leave them alone. Only one was unhinged enough to harass them with their presence.

“Are you Argleth?”

“Some call me that. Yes.”

“Did you arrive here yesterday with General Alvara´s sister?”

“If you already heard of me than I must be the one.”

“Why do you have a mon´keigh with you?”

“I am currently employed in her services and as such I accompany her to her work.”

“You are employed by a human?” the shock was clear to hear in the voice.

“Why should I not?”

“Because...” The Eldar leaned in closer and seemed to slowly realize something. Alexander just raised an eyebrow.

“Are you even an Eldar?”

“No. I am as human as the good Inquisitor over there.”

Telis grinned and waved sarcastically with her hand.

“That... that is impossible. How even...”

“Thank you for your questions. Your interest in me was much appreciated, but I am sure you have your own very important business to attend to. After all you are very busy right now, right?” He leaned in close and stared him directly into the eyes.

“Yes... yes. I should be going.”

“That is probably for the best. Good luck and may your day be filled with many interesting conversations!”

As the Eldar slowly turned and walked away Alexander just shrugged and sighed. He was about to continue reading the book he brought when another one of those who had watched the exchange stepped up.

“If you’re a human than why are you here? What could the Farseer possibly want from your kind?”

“You all knew who I was and when I arrived, but nobody bothered to tell you the reason? I am sorry that the honoured Farseer didn’t think of me as important enough to reveal it. She foresaw me defeating a dreadful evil that threatens this whole world, but fear not, for I am here. And I am willing to do anything to save you all from misfortune and destruction that would otherwise doubtlessly befall your home.”

“I don’t believe you human.”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want. It is merely the truth.”

“Maybe I should call an officer to arrest you for lying and breaking into or home?”

“Surely you wouldn’t want to imply that all the guards and warriors we passed on our way here and that greeted us upon our arrival were all mistaken? That even the high generals and the Farseer herself failed to discern our true nature? You wouldn’t call your beloved leaders all incompetent and stupid would you?”

“No, I didn’t mean to...”

“Then why are you wasting our time than? Go back to your place.” He glared at the Eldar with such a intensity that the whole crowd visibly recoiled and quickly dispersed.

“That was an experience.” the Inquisitor remarked dryly.

“Sometimes my different alliances bring only trouble.”

\--XX-XX-XX--

Alexander had a written permission of entry, but the guards mostly recognized his face when they arrived at a location where they normally wouldn’t have access to. It seemed though like somebody had been considerate enough to inform them of their coming beforehand. Sadly, even if this aspect of their mission was a success they actual findings were less satisfying. Or more so, depending how you looked at it, because they found absolutely nothing. Not even the tiniest hint of chaotic corruption or unwanted manipulation.

“I don’t know about you, but for I´m not really surprised.”

“Yes, but now we know that the vital positions are probably secure.”

“We cannot be totally certain about that. Even really searching one of these halls would take days. It´s impossible.” she said while gesturing to the gigantic antechamber full of walkways and alcoves they currently walked through.

“That is fine. Even if we found nothing we achieved something extremely important today. We have proven ourselves as highly motivated and dutiful in our mission. We did the best we could with the limited resources at our disposal. Now the only official thing left for us to do is waiting.”

Why had she a feeling that he planned all of this? “And how do you plan on spending this free time?”

“With the deepening of our diplomatic relations of course.” The smile he flashed her was so bright it almost blinded her.

On the way back to their temporary home Alexander was already busy with establishing a video call through his cogitator. Ever the restless schemer it seemed.

“Greetings Colonel Callyth! I am terribly sorry to interrupt your work, but would you like to join me for a nice cup of tea today? You have no doubt many questions for me and I would like to answer them in the interest of our mutual collaboration. Surely that is what Farseer Osivae would expect from us if we want to be as effective in our duties as possible, don’t you think?”

“No. I´m rather busy today. I don’t have time for tea with you.”

“Only a few minutes of rest are certainly a possibility for one as important as you Colonel. I assure you that it will not take long.”

“I said I was busy. Go make yourself elsewhere useful human.”

“Truly your commitment to your work is inspiring. The venerable General Alvara will no doubt be overjoyed when she hears that you worked so hard that you didn’t even had time for a small tea with me! All this devotion to your job will hopefully qualify you in her eyes for a prolonged vacation! I hope it goes well. There are so many beautiful places to visit with as much spare time as you will have...”

The threat was now clear and the Colonel seemed to change his mind. “If you insist. Come to my quarters in two hours, but don’t be late!”

“I would never.”

“And don’t bring your mon´keigh pet with you. I don’t want to clean my rooms afterwards.”

The Inquisitor felt offended. How dare this alien look down on her! But she remembered that all the Eldar were stupidly prideful creatures.

“Would that be acceptable to you Inquisitor?”

Alexander asked in Aeldari what seemingly surprised the Eldar by the looks of it. Now she felt even more insulted. This moron hadn’t thought that she would understand him? She just nodded at Alexander. If his idea of fun was spending time with this son of a squig than she wouldn’t want to participate.

“Very well. Thank you for graciously accepting my offer. I am honoured that you took time out of your schedule for me. I will respect this sacrifice.” he smiled with a bow.

“Yeah, yeah. Now go!” The connection of the video feed broke off.

“Well, he will be a problem.” said the inquisitor.

“I don’t think so.”

“Why is that?”

“I can be rather convincing if I want to.” He sounded very sure of himself. As always. “Besides, I find him among all the others to be a rather pleasant fellow. At least he shows his thoughts and feelings openly. The others are much harder to read and therefore far more dangerous. He will always be a good officer and nothing more, but that makes him predictable. And what is predictable can be controlled by us.” He smiled at her again.

She pondered about what he just said in silence for a long while before she addressed him again.  
“I never asked you, but why are you feeling this connected to me? I just woke you up so why are you so committed to the Inquisition?” She gestured to the small “I” above his heart.

“You are a person full of potential. Even I will not be able to accomplish everything alone and you are by far the best person to support me. I am putting so much trust in you by showing you my secrets because I want us to be a team. Together we can reach heights that each of us individually could never dream of. You are essential for me Inquisitor.”

When he looked at her like that and told her how important she was... she could definitely understand why some of these Eldar held him in such high regards. It felt good. Better than good. She felt glorious. His silver eyes spoke the absolute truth. As always. She could depend on him. Now that she thought about it... her bed looked really inviting. It had been a long day and she was suddenly so tired.

“Good night Alexander. I´m going to get a little sleep.”

“Rest well Inquisitor. Everything is fine and safe at the moment.”

“Yes...” She was already half asleep and only found her bedroom with the last of her strength. Then everything went black.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor whole.

Chapter 9

When she awoke and went to Alexander's chambers he wasn’t there. The proportions of this gigantic place were starting to massively annoy her. Now she had to walk 10 minutes back to her own rooms, because even locations that were meant to be close together were actually kilometres apart. As someone who had been raised in a hive-city these wide open spaces were unnerving her. So she sighed and turned around just to come face to face with him standing behind her. She almost jumped, but kept herself in check thanks to decades of training. To downplay her surprise she asked the first thing that came to her mind:   
“How was the meeting?”

“Very informative.”

She nearly rolled her eyes, but decided to humor him. “And what did you learn?”

“Ah, only this and that. Some irregular activities in the lower decks. After a bit of persuasion on my part he agreed on sharing some of the registers with me. Turns out there are a few individuals missing since a few days ago. Nothing too special for a ship of this size, but nonetheless interesting, don’t you think?”

“I wouldn’t call that nothing, but at least it´s something.”

“Do you feel refreshed enough for another trip outside? I prepared a light breakfast in case you were hungry.”

“Yes?” What was he up to?

He snapped his fingers and a table with plates on top of it seemingly floated into the room. What surprised her was that all the food still steamed as if it had just been cooked. Alexander retrieved a nearby chair and sat it down at the table.

“I hope that the coffee is acceptable. I had to get a little creative with replicating it from the provided materials.”

What in the Emperor’s name was “coffee”? She was a little disappointed to find out he simply meant recaff. At least it tasted excellent.

“It´s good.”

He nodded with a self-satisfied smile.

“Of the eight individuals missing only two are prone to such behaviour. The remaining six have not been registered at their housing units or their designated workplaces for over 83 hours. Neighbours or family members have not been questioned as of yet.”

“Well than let´s rectify that.” she said while placing the cup down.

\--XX-XX-XX--

“Salutations good Sir, we are here on behalf of the venerable Farseer Osivae and Colonel Callyth in order to conduct a small investigation. Fear not, there is no cause for alarm yet but do you know anything about the whereabouts of these two individuals?” He held up a device with the pictures of two Eldar from the list.

“No. I don’t know. But why is there a human?”

“That shall be none of your concern good citizen. Did any of the two mention something about a place or activity that they wanted to visit in the near future?”

“No. At least I don’t think so?”

“Did they get visit or came into contact with any suspicious or mysterious persons or groups?”

“I don’t know. Maybe? Did something happen to them? You´re making me nervous.”

“There is nothing to worry about. They are just involved in a small misunderstanding that we hope to resolve. Did they have a sudden change in behaviour or acted strangely in the recent past?”

“No...?”

“Are you sure? Anything could help to unravel this situation much more quickly.”

“Well... maybe Idrakon was a bit quiet in the last few weeks? He always liked to chat with us on his way to work, but lately he has been very quiet. Almost as if he was trying to ignore us.”

“Thank you for your help. Everything will soon be cleared up. Have a nice day good Sir.”

“Bye.”

The door closed.

“How about we visit his apartment first before asking more potential witnesses?”

“If you wish.”

Shortly thereafter they stood before the door to Idrakon´s accommodations. Alexander simply touched it and the entrance opened.

“Don´t you want to knock first to see if anyone is inside?”

“There is nobody inside. But you are right Inquisitor. It was careless of me to violate the protocol in this way.”

How did he recognize that there was no one was inside? God-Emperor only knew.

“Hello? Is somebody there?” he called while simultaneously pressing what could have been some sort of doorbell. “Anyone? Please open up in the name of Colonel Callyth! If not we will be forced to let ourselves in.” Alexander waited for approximately five seconds before striding through the open door.

“Won´t the Colonel be pissed if you just use his authority everywhere?”

“Why should he be? General Alvara gave me the order to conduct this investigation with the help of all her subordinates. He should be honoured to serve her in this role once again.”

The Inquisitor chuckled at the innocent grin of her subject.   
“I´ll take a look to the right, you to the left.”

“Understood.”

What she found was less than exciting. Just normal Eldar stuff. Clothing and other articles were maybe a bit messily strewn about, but that was hardly something unnatural. No blood on the walls, no hidden altars to dark gods and no letters for help. Not that she could have read anything, but she was sure she would have nonetheless gleaned the meaning of a text like that. Back at the entrance was Alexander already waiting for her.

“Found anything?”

“No, but I am sure that nobody has been inside here in the last few days. On the table in the kitchen lays a pile of perishable fruits which has been left to rot since 3 days ago, which also means that our missing case has probably not planned to be absent for so long.”

“Have you made sure that your traces can not easily be found?”

“Of course.”

“Then let´s take our leave.”

\--XX-XX-XX--

The next two houses were also a bust. The neighbours were either not cooperative enough or knew nothing of worth. No interesting evidence inside the homes either. That changed with the fourth person on the list.

“Hello? Is anyone there? Please open the front door. In the name of Colonel Callyth open up! Please open the door.” Alexander waited the symbolic five seconds before he reached for the door to open it with his ancient technomancy. To the Inquisitor it always seemed so elegant and effortless. Nothing like the obnoxious ramblings and screeches of a techpriest. Only this time he stopped mid movement and retracted his hand. What was happening? The door slid open and inside stood an actual Eldar. What a surprise!

“What are you yelling at?”

“Good evening Ilrohish. We are here because of an ongoing investigation on behest of Colonel Callyth. Are you aware that you have been reported missing for 90 hours?”

“No?”

“Then you can surely help us solve this unfortunate misunderstanding. Where exactly have you been in the last few days?”

“Well... I went to work and then I met a few friends and I slept by them for the night...”

“And what did you do the rest of time if I may ask?”

“I... I don’t know. I think I hit my head or something and my friends cared for me for a while.”

“Why didn’t you visit a healer or any medical facility?”

“It was nothing major!” she sputtered. “There was no need for that.”

Alexander seemed to analyze her critically.

“When did you come back to your home?”

“A few hours ago.”

He stared again at her in calculating manner. Something was up. The inquisitor just couldn’t put her finger on it. Alexander´s silver eyes finally locked with the eyes of the slightly distraught Eldar.

“We had a long workday and are very exhausted. Would you mind letting us in for a small refreshment?”

 _“Very clever, Alexander. Very clever.”_ She thought. It was a good idea to also check inside and verify some of the new information.

“Ahmmm if you want to?”

“That would be very nice. Thank you for your hospitality.”

The Eldar looked very nervous and distracted when they entered the house. She didn’t even comment on the Inquisitors presence, which was odd.

“Telis, could you please prepare two glasses of water please?”

That was even stranger. He had never called her by her name only ever “Inquisitor”. And why wanted he her to get the water? She would have protested, but her host didn’t even seem to notice. She was still fixated by Alexander's eyes and only nodded to his every word. What was that about? So the Inquisitor just shook her head and began her search for the kitchen area.

When she finally found it and returned with some glasses, she was stunned by the display of strangeness in the linving space. The Eldar seemed to be sleeping on the floor and her clothing was removed. Alexander kneeled beside her and stared at her naked abdomen.

“What in the Emperor´s name are you doing?”

“She couldn’t answer my questions. I asked her simple things and she didn’t reply. The problem is that she really didn’t know them. She had no idea what happened to her in the last two days.”

“And that was reason enough to knock her out like that? Maybe she just hit her head really bad.” Of course the Inquisitor didn’t believe that. She just wanted to know his reasoning.

“Something manipulated her mind and that is never a good sign. Look at this.”

She kneeled beside him and watched were Alexander's slender fingers pointed at. At first she only looked at how the creamy skin stretched over the defined abdominal muscles before she noticed it. On the otherwise perfect belly was a barely visible scar formed like a sickle. From the looks of it, it was fresh. The realization hit her like a Leman Russ at full speed.

“Genestealers.“ she muttered in shock.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor relaxed.

Chapter 10

“What are genestealers? Do you know anything about them?” he asked.

“Wait, if you don’t know what they are how did you notice this?”

“Let´s just say that I have a very good intuition for this kind of thing.”

Another mystery about him. He probably had some kind of sensors in him or maybe completely new artificial senses? Even with his likely enhancements it pained the Inquisitor a bit that a man with no prior knowledge of genestealers managed to detect their corruption before her.

“They are a specialized form of the tyranid forces. Their main goal is to corrupt and infiltrate a population by secretly spreading their taint among the residents. When the time for a tyranid invasion draws near they will assist from within the ranks of the defenders with sabotage and assassination. A true blight on the galaxy.”

“I see.”

“We have to inform them immediately.”

“I would advise against this course of action.”

“What?”

“We should not inform them yet.”

“Why?”

“Because if what you told me is correct than they have probably already infiltrated many important positions in the Craftworld hierarchy. And from what I infer from your judgement of these creatures they know how to go unnoticed for long periods of time.”

“You don’t want to alert them?”

“Yes. They could make it far harder for us to track them if they knew that they were being investigated.”

“But we also cannot keep it to only ourselves. We will need help with this before it can spread further.”

“The Farseer is the only person we can trust for now. She wouldn’t have called us here if she worked with them.”

“I agree. But she can´t keep this secret. Her duty will demand to share it with the other generals.”

“True. So we must inspect all high ranking officers immediately.”

“How? They will never let a human touch them.”

He just flashed her a amused smile. “Let that be my problem Inquisitor.”

Holy Emperor! This man was sometimes difficult to work with.

\--XX-XX-XX--

“Good to see you again Argleth. What is it you wanted to talk about so urgently? Found anything interesting on your little ‘expedition‘?” Osivae asked. The way she said ‘expedition‘ made it clear that she was mocking him.

“Indeed. I have found disturbing evidence of a large scale conspiracy that could be the threat you have seen in your visions.”

Her face instantly lost all lightheartedness and her eyes visibly dimmed. “What is it?”

“First, are you absolutely certain that this room is bug-proof? That there is no possible surveillance in here? What I am about to tell you is a subject of total secrecy. Not even your sister can be informed about this for now.”

Of course the Inquisitor was sure that he had already checked the room. She herself had made some subtle examinations for anything suspicious. Nonetheless was it a useful method for intimidating the Eldar and sowing paranoia into her heart.

“Yes? These are my private chambers. Nobody would dare...”

“Is it impossible?”

“No... but I can feel nothing placed with ill-intent in the vicinity.”

“I guess that is good enough. Like I said you must swear absolute secrecy about this information. Until I say so no word can leave this room or I am certain that your home is doomed.”

With every word that came out of his mouth the Farseer seemed to get paler and paler. How that was even possible with her already pale complexion escaped the Inquisitor.

“Y-yes I swear.”

The Inquisitor suppressed a smug grin. Finally knew the xeno fear.

“We have discovered a possible infection of your Craftworld with ‘genestealers‘ how the Inquisitor calls them. They are a form of Tyranids that seek to undermine and corrupt societies from within. We do not know currently how many are affected. Do you understand what that means?”

“Oh... how could... impossible... I would have seen...”

“Now, now Osivae.” He patted her hand affectionately. “All hope is not lost. I have a plan.”

“Yeah?”

Again the Inquisitor had to stifle a laugh at how helpless and naive the Farseer looked with her wide eyes and slightly open mouth.

“Really. I know exactly what to do and how to save your home from these foul invaders. But to do so I will you need your full support. Else this will not be possible.” His silver eyes full of love and warmth pierced seemingly into her soul. “Will you help me?”

“Of course.” came the whispered response.

“Then everything will soon be alright.”

\--XX-XX-XX--

It had been trivially easy to persuade Osivae to let them investigate each high ranking officer. That included intensive interrogation, medical examination and total surveillance of their privacy. It had been so easy in fact that the Inquisitor wondered if they were the ones being manipulated. Surely a being as old and wise as the Farseer wouldn’t fall for such a simple trick, but it somehow worked. Age didn’t make you anymore intelligent apparently.  
Many of her fellow Inquisitors would destroy a dozen planets to get all the information that Alexander had provided her in a few weeks for free. Had she been younger she would have kissed that man for this beautiful gift, but she knew how to control herself. So she just gave him a heartfelt look and a sincere thank you.  
On the other hand waited now a long month of constant work and sleepless nights for her. Not that it wouldn’t be worth it, but it was still going to be exhausting.

“We will need a bigger space for offices the likes. This will be too much data to process for us two so I will have to bring in my own administrators.”

“How many do you have with you that can fulfil the requirements?”

He didn’t say what he meant, but she knew what he was referring to. “Two thousand, with 500 of them being ideal for the job.”

“I would advise to take only the best 100 for now. We are not that desperate.”

 _“Yet.”_ the Inquisitor thought.

“I would like to start with General Alvara if you don’t object Inquisitor.”

“Sure. Why not?”

“It will be very beneficial if we can trust her fully.”

“Do you want Osivae to be with you in the interrogation?”

“Yes. She will have a far easier time opening up with her sister by her side.”

“Shall I arrange everything for tomorrow afternoon?”

“You are too kind Inquisitor. That would be delightful.”

“So be it.”

\--XX-XX-XX--

“Alvara do you know why your sister and I have called you here?”

“You two made some discovery regarding the craftworld´s safety I presume?”

“You are correct. We encountered evidence of a warp-tainted device that alters memories. To make sure that it hasn’t affected you we would like to conduct a simple interrogation and a few tests. The Inquisitor has some experience with dealing with these kinds of objects and I trust her completely in her judgement of this matter. Does this sound acceptable to you?”

“Yes.”

“As expected from you. I thank you humbly for your cooperation.” While he bowed his hand twitched a miniscule amount which signalled the begin of the next phase.

“Would you please put this device on your head sister?” said Osivae.

The silver ‘crown‘ that she handed to Alvara had been made by Alexander just yesterday. After consuming every written thing on Tyranids that the Inquisitor had in her private library at incredible speed he had locked himself in his room till dinner. There he had apparently fabricated this with his own liquid metal, what certainly explained the perfectly smooth, shining surface of the object.  
Alexander had given only two critical details about the function of the device:   
It put the wearer in a highly susceptible state of mind where they would be only able to speak the truth and it also severed one´s psychic connection with the surrounding world.  
Never had the Inquisitor wanted a piece of technology so much. One could only imagine how much time and effort it could have saved her in the past if she had possessed such a thing. Although she was sceptical if it could actually deliver on Alexander's promises.  
Her doubts were seemingly unfounded, because as soon as the general rested the crown on her head her eyes noticeably dulled and her determined expression shifted to one of complete apathy.

“Sister, are you well?” asked the panicking Farseer.

“Yes.” came the indifferent response.

“Osivae I already told you. No harm will come to her. This is the quickest and most painless way to learn the truth.” He turned back towards the blankly staring Alvara. “Do you trust me fully?”

“No.”

“Very good. You speak the truth without the veil of courtesy. Which god do you serve?”

“Isha.”

“And?”

“Nobody else.”

“Are you sure that you did not forget your true master?”

“Yes.”

“You will be excluded from salvation if you deny your affiliation with the true god. Are you sure you want that?”

“I do not worship Khaine or Cegorach.”

“I´m not talking about them. The Broodmind you heretic! Do you want me to excommunicate you? To fail in ones faith is to disappoint the Broodmind! Do you want to disappoint our glorious overlord?”

“I do not know what you´re speaking about.”

“I will inform the patriarch about this. You let us all down, but I know you are valuable to the hive so I will grant you one last chance for redemption.” He produced a strange round symbol of a worm from his open palm. “Swear on this holy sign your undying loyalty to the hive. Now! You know the words.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Just speak the words.”

“I don’t know them.”

He started her intensely into the eyes for what seemed like minutes. Then his mouth morphed into an angry snarl. “One last time. What is your first and foremost duty?”

“To protect my people.”

“Very well. The hive is proud of you again. Will you continue to show this devotion to the Tyranids cause?”

“I meant the Eldar of this craftworld.”

Alexander's grim expression shifted back to a pleasant smile. “Good. We will need to ask you a few more things and examine your body just to be sure, but I am happy to say: You are untainted and cleared of all doubt General Alvara.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on feedback I received, I have decided to take the short route with this story. Arc 4 and 5 will be cut and recycled in future content. But I have made a compromise. The ending (in its current iteration) will be open enough for other stories in the the same universe to tie into. This will allow me to "finish" the whole plot at a later time.  
> I hope you all are having fun with this as much as I do.
> 
> Rejoice.

Chapter 11

Inquisitor Telis thanked the Emperor that he had blessed her with such competent workers. Even under the admittedly strange conditions of an Eldar starship they were still able to fully organize a command structure in a matter of days. Orderly rows of desks upon desks filled now the small hall that she had requisitioned for her makeshift administratorium. Behind each of them sat one of her subordinates and typed away on their cogitators in full concentration. In between swarmed dozens of servitors with stacks of paper and parchment in seemingly random patterns. It was a wonderful sight to behold.

All of this was of course necessary to manage all the countless testimonies, interrogation logs, security details and the likes which were way beyond her capabilities. After Alvara´s initial examination Alexander had resigned these duties to the Inquisitor and had dedicated himself to further studies about the Craftworld. She didn’t believe him one word, but let him be. If he wanted to hide something from her so badly she wouldn’t get much out him in a normal conversation anyway.

The strategy of the operation codenamed “Guiding Light” was to check all personal of extreme strategic importance as fast as possible before information inevitably leaked. Later all lower-class citizens would be forced to participate openly. A feat that would probably be utterly impossible if not for Alexander's “crown”. Or as he called it a “Neurowave-surpressor”. Otherwise the truth would be unattainable and a proper investigation would take years and she was not willing to spend that much time onboard an alien vessel.

Fortunately, or rather unfortunately none of the Eldar so far had displayed unambiguous signs of corruption. It meant that hopefully the cult hadn’t spread to wide, but it also meant less Eldar she would be allowed to execute. That didn’t mean she couldn’t learn all their other dirty little secrets. Humorously she found out that one of the captains had an affair with the wife of his colleague. She wasn’t sure how Eldar society handled things like that, but it was certainly not seen as acceptable.

The Inquisitor turned back from the balcony that oversaw the hall and made her way to cell 2. Through the identification of her face the door opened by itself and gave her access to the scene within.

“Don´t lie to me! You can´t hide before the patriarch! Stand by the faith less you want to burn together with all these heathens here!” screamed Osusan the Eldar she had recruited for the purpose of interrogations.

It was easier to speak with some of the more bigoted individuals if you looked like an Eldar. That was probably also why Alexander took on that disgusting face. The Inquisitor had grown quite fond of the young man in the last few hours. Had he not been a xeno she would have considered recruiting him. He had character and the right amount of passion for mentally destroying people. Shame that he was a bloody alien or he could have gotten quite far with that kind of fire in his heart.  
Behind the semi-transparent glass of the cell Telis allowed herself to smile.

The man in the intentionally uncomfortable chair on the other side just remained silent like he had from the beginning of the interview. This was highly suspicious as it signalled that he had something to hide. Even if he was no genestealer cultist he could be part of a second conspiracy. Her old master had taught her that valuable lesson Pathos-3. When a minor chaos cult tried to usurp the local government another sect of heretics that worshiped the emperor in form of a woman had tried to take it back. It ended with the whole capital getting bombed for a week. She could still hear his raspy voice over the sound of distant explosions: “Just because some damned heretics try something stupid doesn’t mean they work directly together. Never focus on only one target. If you look hard enough the next stands directly behind you in plain view! The heretics, they´re everywhere!”

Exactly this incriminating silence was now broken by a hateful roar.

“How dare you talk of me like that! I would never dirty the word of the lord by wasting it on a rat like you!”

Too late he realized the error in his response and for a short moment he looked panicked. Then a grim determination settled onto his features and he tried to break his neck. Luckily the fool had no idea of how to properly kill himself and he was promptly restrained by the two guards from outside the door.

“This will not be the end! Surrender now and you too can achieve salvation! The hive will...”

His screaming was swiftly stopped by a kick between the legs and stun-shot from the Inquisitor´s arc pistol.

“No you traitor you will get to know hell and your false gods will not come to save you from it:” hissed Osusan with visible anger.

Telis approved of his intimidation technique very much even if she would never show such feeling towards a xeno. Maybe she could let him try the torture on this one. She was intrigued whether the young Eldar knew how to do it right. And he had almost certainly better knowledge of the Eldar body which could teach her a valuable lesson or two.

“Bring him in the security holding cell, strip him and bind him so he can´t kill himself.” ordered the Inquisitor in Gothic, because she had made sure that the guards understood her. It became sometimes quite tedious to always translate conversations through a servo-skull.

She directed her voice directly at Osusan. “Do you want to come with me?”

Both knew it was rhetoric question.

“With pleasure.” he grinned.

When the chains were firmly secured she had laid out her equipment on the nearby table and motioned for Osusan to begin. From his spot on the wall the cultist almost looked pitiful.

“Speak up you rat! Your connection to your rotten overlord is severed! No use in hiding now or do you want us to cut the information out of you?” her assistant screamed directly into his ear.

...

“Ah, silence again? Then I guess I will have to make you make a noise somehow.” He punched the prisoner hard under the ribs. He repeated that with staggering ferocity until a wet crunch could be heard. Only now did the traitor make a audible groaning sound that intensified when Osusan punched the same spot again.

“So you haven´t lost your voice yet? We are just getting started. If you don’t speak this will continue for the rest of the day. And then tomorrow. And than the day after tomorrow. And so forth and so forth until we hear everything we want to know. It´s just a question of time.”

“Never...”

“Oh my, what a fighter.” Osusan dug his fingers into the broken ribcage which caused the cultist to squirm and squeal in his chains.

“Perhaps he enjoys the finer arts of the flesh like his Drukhari cousins? Wouldn´t you like that?”

She let the light reflect of her scalpel while smiling innocently at the prisoner. Three steps forward was all it took before her blade rested lightly on his chest.  
He attempted to laugh mockingly but it sounded rather pathetic when the knife traced lightly over the skin leaving a thin line of blood behind. With perfect precision and lightning speed she suddenly rammed a needle with pain-enhancement into his neck and pumped the clear liquid through.

“That will make a lot more fun. I´m sure you like it.” she said as she thrust her scalpel into his upper arm and twisted. Loud screams filled the room.

\--XX-XX-XX--

After five long hours the Inquisitor could finally wash her bloody hands. It was honest work, but she had never liked the sticky sensation between her fingers. At least it had been a very informative 5 hours. Especially the second and third. The fourth and fifth and been a lot slower due to the man no longer being able to speak properly. Did she only imagine it or was Eldar blood a lot stickier than that of humans? God-Emperor only knew.

“Inquisitor, good to see you. If you are not busy right now I would like to discuss something with you.”

Alexander was silent as a cat. More silent probably. She had absolutely not expected anyone to stand behind her and was expectedly shocked by his presence. Not that a normal human could have noticed her sudden stiffening for more than half a second.

“Ah, Alexander. Indeed I am just about finished for today. What had you planned?”

“My, you must be hungry after so much work today. I have arranged a simple dinner at my chambers. If you would follow me please.”

The “simple meal” was everything but that. 4 courses of unidentifiable but tasty meat served with equally unidentifiable vegetables and finished off with an extraordinary sweet pudding of some sort. Fully satisfied the Inquisitor cleaned her mouth with a silken napkin and focused her attention back to the lightly smiling Alexander. Now that she had enjoyed herself it was back to business.

“What is it you wanted to talk about?”

“Straightforward as always Inquisitor. May I first ask if your new source has fulfilled its purpose?”

Of course he already knew what she had been up to. It wasn’t hard to guess what the blood at her hands meant after all.

“Yes. I don’t think he will spill much more. Nonetheless I would like to keep him.”

“Have the others yet been informed of his whereabouts or his corruption?”

“No. He has remained a secret. Why do you ask?”

“That is where my request comes in Inquisitor. I would like you to let him loose as soon as possible.”

She wasn’t even surprised anymore. “Explain.”

“His absence in the hive as well as in the public will prematurely cause the cult to be alarmed. This cannot be allowed to happen.”

“But if I let him go he will just tell everything to the patriarch.”

“Do you remember the soul-bonding I used on the dark Eldar back then? It will work with him as well. I´m sure of it.”

“I do not intend to use sorcery for...”

“It is not sorcery, but science. I assure you this process has no connection to the immaterium. He will be totally under our control.”

Why not? When looked at her like that how could she refuse? With his eyes that pleaded so honestly... She felt very exhausted from her work and all the good food made her sleepy.

“Whatever... Do what you must.”

“Thank you Inquisitor. This is the best course of action.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor curious.

Chapter 12

Violet lighting surged forth from the orb and hit the Eldar in the chest. His countless wounds began to close at rapid speed while his slumped posture straightened. No emotion was visible on his face when the energy stopped flowing into him and he locked eyes with Alexander.

“Act normal. Infiltrate your people, but try not to think any suspicious thoughts. Do not speak about the fact that you now work for us. Pretend to have tricked us if the cult should ever find out about our investigation. Carry out your mission given to you by the cult, but inform me or the Inquisitor here secretly about every order you are given. Try to collect as much information about their numbers and location without getting caught. Should you nonetheless be found out report immediately to us and if that is not possible kill yourself. You will listen and obey every command from the Inquisitor as if it were mine. Nod if you understand.”

The cultist now turned spy nodded.

“Now go and explain away your absence without arousing suspicion.”

“What happens to a soul when you bind it with this thing?” asked the Inquisitor who had watched the scene in fascinated silence.

“It will be trapped inside the sphere and slowly assimilated by it. The process usually takes a few years, but can vary depending on the strength of the soul. You could say that it becomes one with the already existing soul of the device.”

“It has a soul?” That definitely sounded daemonic.

“No not really. Only an artificial one. Like a primitive machine which has no consciousness, but can still seemingly talk. It´s certainly not alive. Nothing related to the warp I promise you.”

“Hmmp.”

“Let´s get back to our usual routines Inquisitor. I wish you a good night cycle and would like to excuse myself back to my quarters. I have studies to attend to.”

That was right. This would be far from her last sleepless night for a while and she needed to make the most out of it. The next two days were filled with hastier and hastier activity in her office. Mountains of paperwork grew on her desk regardless of how much of it she directed elsewhere. It wasn’t a negative for her, because it meant that everything was going well and much useful evidence was being uncovered. It was just sadly quite tedious.  
In fact the investigation was going so well that she soon found herself in need of talking to Alexander again.

“The intelligence your puppet provided us with is already proving to be incredibly useful. We have found two of his fellow conspirators way sooner than anticipated and, most importantly, are now know of the location of the patriarch´s layer.”

“Wonderful. Any plans?”

“We go in with a fast strike force and eliminate the threat at its roots while the rest of my men block all escape routes. And then their leader is no more.” she snapped with her fingers at the last part.

“But wouldn’t that prompt some of the cultists to run amok when they feel their connection severed and their plot unearthed?”

“It will make more of a show for us when we crush them like that. If they cast more of a threatening image in the public eye then that will make us also more glorious heroes for them.”

“I can see your point.”

“And we can justify it with saying that this was the quickest way possible to get rid of them before they could spread any further. The only logical choice really.”

“Only logical.” he shrugged in an exaggerated manner.

“My forces prepare for a mission start in 17 standard hours. The sooner the better.”

“Then I will make preparations.”

Four hours later her personal cogitator beeped with the familiar signal of Alexander's call signature. Without the slightest hesitation she answered and his face filled the screen.

“Greetings Inquisitor. I have discussed the plan with Osivae and Alvara on account of their trustworthiness and general importance.”

“Without my permission?” She couldn’t keep the irritation out of her voice.

“Yes and I apologize for this transgression. In my opinion your goals of maximum speed and impact warranted involvement with such important and potentially helpful figures.”

She could only grind her teeth at that, but was determined to turn this situation to her advantage. “What did they say?”

“The Farseer wishes to come with us.”

“Why? We don’t need useless non-combatants that have to be protected. She´ll just slow us down.”

“When I explained that to her she said she had foreseen having a important role on that mission. Without her we would allegedly fail.”

“Can she still not say anything specific about her visions?”

“She feels like they are purposefully obscured.”

“Something we need to worry about?”

“Maybe. It could a harmless anomaly or a malevolent will. What kind of being would be able to do that is unknown to me.”

“I will keep an eye out. And Alvara? What did she say?”

“She wishes to accompany us as an observer. From what I gathered she doesn´t intend to participate, but to testify our findings from afar and then directly after the mission ends.”

“Well at least that´s reasonable.”

\--XX-XX-XX--

Operation “Gilded Hammer” was now officially about to commence in a few minutes. Exited silence filled the air like an invisible mist as the Inquisitor waited behind her veteran command team. Even though all these brave men and women had seen combat countless times they still remained ever vigilant in the face of such a seemingly easy task. The only one who didn’t stare at their chronometers or into the darkness of the hallway beyond was Alexander, who instead carefully examined his new long rifle. A priceless gift from the Farseer who had probably not realized that he didn’t need such weapons with his absorber shield and morphing metal armour on him. It nonetheless never hurt to carry to many arms on you at all times. The Inquisitor knew this intimately from experience.

Because of the vehement urging of the two sisters they would not treat everybody they came across as a hostile combatant, but rather as a potentially innocent civilian as long they showed no sign of resistance. Of course in the Inquisitors eyes everybody who spent time near the source of such corruption was guilty without question, but she didn’t want to risk her good diplomatic position yet. So for the purpose of communication with these individuals each of the 100 strike squads contained one specially instructed Eldar to coax the “civilians” into submission. The rest of her men were distributed around the most important structures in the surrounding areas to divert attention and secure them from any stray cultists.

Seconds ticked by slowly as they waited before she gave the sign and the vox-casters at the roof erupted in noise. Her agents had caused an “accident” at the local communications centre which shrouded the internal networks in a deafening static that made normal wireless communication extremely difficult. They were of course equipped with special headsets that allowed for the clear distribution of orders and reports.

A quick glance at the chronometer revealed that the time had come. Her Auspex glowed faintly in the dark and also showed no movements or thermal signatures inside the perimeter. She cleared her throat and flipped the vox-transmitter at her collar on.

“Alpha-one here. All nice and clear. The hammer falls. I repeat, the hammer falls. Report any hostile sightings immediately. Until then, keep silence. Over and out.”

“Understood.” echoed from a dozen different voices before she cut the connection off. The hunt was on and the familiar feeling of ecstasy and dread formed a wonderful cocktail in her stomach.

“What are you waiting for? Purge this filth!” she yelled at her soldiers which promptly leapt into action.

Behind them followed Alexander with his shield and the Farseer who warily eyed her surroundings. Good. That meant she would keep an eye out for herself without the inquisitor having to look after her. Telis had already enough things to worry about without a reckless xeno throwing themselves into danger.

Everything was quiet. Too quiet in her opinion. Not one cultist showed up as they marched through the increasingly decrepit looking hallways and tunnels. In fact they met absolutely nobody. Unnerved by the general absence of activity in the vicinity she contacted some of the other teams to check up on their status.

“Theta-Rho-1 respond.”

“All clear Alpha-1. Connection is stable.”

“Any sightings until now?”

“Negative Alpha-1. No contact yet.”

“Anything noteworthy?”

“Nothing. This place looks like it´s been cleared out hours ago. Has the intel been compromised?”

That was the same question she was asking herself right now. It should have been impossible with Alexander's puppeteering of the cultist, but who knew really...

“Stay alert. Inform the others that our network might have a leak. Expect a possible ambush. Proceed with combat doctrine 21-38. Over and out.”

“Understood.”

“If I might interject there Inquisitor.” said Alexander from surprisingly close behind her.

Her strained nerves nearly ripped apart from the surprise.

“I have an inkling that our enemy might also possess clairvoyant abilities. The good Farseer here is by far not the only individual on this ship with the capacity to see the future.”

He was right! How had she been this foolish? All this time she had ignored the notion that her opponent could use the same skills as them to gain an advantage! Her former master would have whipped her blue and green for such a stupid mistake. She had to focus. There was no time for dwelling on the feelings of her hurt pride right now. If they knew about the mission they could...

This was a trap!

“Attention! This is Alpha-1. Retreat back to safe zone Omega! Suspected ambush ongoing. If retreat is not possible fortify your position! I repeat. Suspected ambush ongoing.”

“We cannot let them get away with this! If we pull out now they will move to a new location.” cried the panicked Osivae.

“And we will not. First we fall back and regroup. Then we call in the reinforcements and march straight through with maximal firepower. I will not get my men slaughtered by a trap we are unprepared for.”

“All exits are closed off and even the service and ventilation tunnels are blocked. There is no way they can escape our encirclement.” Alexander added.

Not wanting to further waste time with this conversation the Inquisitor turned around and opened a channel directly to Alvara.

“Alpha-1 speaking. General do you hear me?”

“Yes I do Alpha-1. Loud and clear.”

“We must retreat for now. It seems like our enemy already knew of our arrival. I suspect they are able to see the future in some form.”

“I understand. Shall I mobilize my troupes?”

Until now they had refrained from doing so, because most of them were still untested. It would not be possible to predict if they would not halfway through the mission turn their arms against their brothers and sisters.

“Yes General. Were going only in with full force.”

The Inquisitor didn’t know if she was too paranoid at the moment. It all could just be a enormous misinterpretation, but caution was better than stupid recklessness.

After 30 minutes of restless waiting and tedious coordination the reinforcements finally arrived at their designated locations. She was Alexander very thankful that with a quick call to Alvara he had made the Eldar spearhead the attack as, in his own words, it was basically their home and so there duty. This safety measure alone would no doubt save many of her men that now could hide behind the xenos meat shields. As an added bonus her troupes were now in a position where their friendly fire would only hurt the Eldar and not the other way around. Truly, the man was a genius.

“Alright. Here is Alpha-1. Operation continues. All unites go! I repeat. Operation continues!”

As they marched down the hallway, the darkness that awaited them seemed to grow more and more from the corners of the room as if it was sucking them in. The foreboding shadows crawled further down the walls and swallowed the light completely as soon as the corridor took a turn. Like the experts they were her men checked quickly for movement or thermal signatures before they rounded the corner and took firing positions.

Suddenly Osivea cried out: “Wait... Something is coming!”

And with these words all hell broke loose.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor giddy.

Chapter 13

The temperature dropped in an instant from moderate to freezing cold. Her breath crystallized as soon as it left her mouth and trickled as small snowflakes to the ground. The Inquisitor immediately readied her bolter and screamed for her men to get cover. This development was definitely daemonic in origin and they were entirely unprepared for something of that magnitude.

Then the screaming started. Faint at first, before it got stronger and stronger and combined itself with the sounds of weaponry being fired and grenades going off. The noise lasted only for a few short minutes, but the silence that followed was all the more disturbing. Against all her instincts yelling at her to run as far away as possible she crept forward into the dark hallway which soon opened up to a gigantic hall with comparatively good illumination. It´s middle was lightened up by a tall pyre of strange blue fire and a lone figure standing behind it. His hands were stretched out into the air and crackled with baleful red lightning.

What however brought a look of shock to her face despite her normal self-control was not the man, but the scenery around him. It was a slaughter if she had ever seen one. Bodies of cultists and her own soldiers alike lay strewn about like a carpet of death. Every square meter of the floor was covered with corpses.

Telis leaned in closer to one man who laid directly at the entrance to the corridor. Half his head was gone and his brains blown out, but the relatively intact portion of his face portrayed only absolute horror and anguish.

How had they arrived here before them? And why had nobody contacted her? As if to answer her question the man´s destroyed helmet made a cracking noise and she could hear her own voice coming quietly from the speakers. She kneeled down and listened closer. That was undeniably her voice giving instructions. The problem was that she wasn’t speaking at the moment. Had the comms-channel also been compromised? What was even happening anymore?

“Now all of your souls are saved! Ha ha. Be embraced by fate itself!” the man at the blue fire cackled.

Spotting Alexander who had stepped out of the shadows, his maniacal grin spread even further.

“Argleth! Thank you. Without you demonstrating the power of your artefact I would have never found the solution! All this time it was hidden in plain sight! Ha! Why not use the powers of chaos to defeat it with itself? It´s genius! Ha ha ha. Who better than the Weaver of Fates to guard their souls from She-who-thirsts? The Eldar have a new god now! One who will lead us to a future of hope! Ha ha. Hail Tzeench the...”

“Shut up.” interrupted the Inquisitor and turned his head into fine red mist with her bolter.

Thunder from the bolt´s discharge filled the cavernous chamber as the heretic’s lifeless body hit the floor. And twitched. That wasn’t supposed to happen. He twitched again. She shot another round into his flesh and sprayed giblets of viscera onto the surrounding floor. But before she could hit him a third time blinding blue arcs of light shot out from the carcass, connecting to the corpses around and temporarily obscuring her sight. After just a single second of inattention the dead Eldar had vanished. In his place stood now a squirming monstrosity of tentacles and teeth; its countless eyes staring in childlike wonder and joy at the world.

“j _U_ **St** a _S_ P **La** n _NeD_.” giggled the abomination with the voices of a thousand men, women and children simultaneously. It sounded so unnatural that the Inquisitor felt like it twisted her ears inside out.

All of a sudden a dull silver blur of motion charged at the monster. Only the bulk and height of the being gave away that it was the Grey Knight who seemed to dash and spin with superhuman grace. Mighty blows cut deep into the monster and steaming blue blood splattered through the air.

The daemon reared its ugly head (or what counted as that) and screamed an indescribable cacophony of terror. It sounded somewhat like the distorted laughter of a child mixed with steel and concrete breaking under heavy pressure, but at the same time totally different. Azure and pink flames burst forth from the ground it touched and spread all around it massive deformed body.

This forced the marine back, but didn’t stop him from dumping a whole magazine of shells from afar into the flesh of the beast.

“tH **A** Nk Y **o** U f _oR_ St **RRu** gGeLL _In_ **g** sO **m _uc_** h. **Y** oU **pL** ay Y _o_ uR r _OlE_ pEe _e_ **eERf** ecTL _y_.” gurgled it in its horrible tongue.

Then its laughter escalated in an auditory storm of torment. Two of the warp-spawns “hands” began to wave lazily in the air and with a massive discharge of arcane power that made the Inquisitor´s skin crawl a warp portal opened directly next to it.

The sound of the material world being ripped apart and something unnatural forcing its way through was disturbing for every living being. Just like the daemon this was something that was never meant to be. Something that should not exist. Never. It was so fundamentally wrong and abnormal that it made her feel sick and hopeless. Disgusting multi-coloured light squeezed its way through and appeared more like a viscous fluid than normal radiance. How else could it be so revolting?

At the same time a thick and rotten stink rolled over her. Like burned ozone and decomposing fruits jumbled up with thousand year old dust and rancid eggs. In that moment she almost threw up her breakfast.

Ghostly apparitions streamed instantly out of the rift and formed a wide ring around it. Their transparent shapes twisted and wavered like fog in the wind. Alexander's shield tried to catch them, but to no avail. They blinked in and out of existence like a broken holo-picter while always dodging the invisible wall regardless of how many drones split off to trap them in one spot.

“It´s a diversion! Keep them occupied. I´ll take care of it.” screamed Osivae as her eyes began to glow and she stretched her hands in the direction of the portal.

The effect was immediately visible. The tear stopped expanding and its smeared out edges sharpened and became noticeably cleaner. Even the smell lessened in its intensity, if only slightly. Meanwhile Alexander attempted something different. He lifted the black orb high over his head while it hovered over his palm. Then a bolt of violet energy erupted from the device and hit one of the phantoms in the vicinity. It shrieked in pain and was banished to the real it came from. More and more bolts shot out, but for every one of them he destroyed two more popped up. They soon would be overwhelmed.

“Time is running short! From here I can only delay it. I´ll have to get closer.” was the Farseer´s assessment of the situation.

“No Osivae you will not! You will...” Alexander replied with audible anger.

Osivae however did not wait for him to finish. With strength that even for an Eldar should not be physically possible, she jumped over the main shield and landed softly on the ground. Without the slightest hesitation she broke into a sprint until she came to stop right in front of the repulsive portal. Seemingly with her bare hand she attempted to pull the hole in reality shut and much to the Inquisitor´s astonishment it actually worked. Slowly the edges moved closer and closer together and the glow of the sickly-rainbow-coloured light dimmed.

Everything was going smoothly until suddenly a barbed tentacle grabbed unto the Farseer from inside the immaterium. It happened so abruptly that it would be barely noticeable to the untrained eye, but its effects were hard to ignore. Osivae cried out and screamed with all her psychic might into the endless void. This seemed to do the trick and the creature relented its assault, but the damage was already done.

Blood dripped down from her waist in alarming quantities and her arms trembled, but with one final effort she managed to seal the gate. This appeared to have consumed the last of her energy as she fell straight down on her face and made no attempt to get up.

Alexander abandoned all caution and rushed towards her wounded form. Even from afar the Inquisitor could see the hopeless mess of ruptured organs and shredded flesh that was her pectoral area. Her blood drenched her fine clothes completely and pooled in a large puddle underneath her. Alexander on the other hand seemed not content to watch her die. It was nonetheless painfully obvious that his attempts at stopping the bleeding were entirely futile. After a short while he gave up and instead talked to her directly: “Don´t leave us Osivae. What will become of your people? Of your wonderful daughter?”

A brief look of realization and sadness flashed in her eyes.

“Help... Telria...” was all she could whisper.

“If that is what you wish than I will take care of her. Fear not your sister will no doubt be always there for her when she needs her assistance. She will become as strong as her mother. I will see to that.”

She smiled weakly at his promise.

“But if you must go on to the afterlife than be welcomed by the spirits of your ancestors. Know that you were beloved and treasured by us all and your memory shall never be forgotten. You fought with honour and bravery and through your hard work you have made the world a better place. Your lovely daughter and your venerable sister will carry on your legacy, as will their children and grandchildren till the end of time. I wish you farewell Osivae. If the gods will it we will see each other again.”

Sounds of bolter fire distracted the Inquisitor from the heartfelt scene. The closure of the dimensional rift seemed to have weakened the unholy creature and with a small explosion of blue fire it collapsed in on itself. The Grey Knight seized the opportunity and fearlessly jumped onto its body, hammering it with his blazing power-sword. There was not a single moment of respite as hacked and ripped away at the thing. It took only a few seconds before he finally finished it off with a mighty blow to its midsection which nearly split the warp-spawn in two.

But even as daemon started to disintegrate it managed to scream some more treacherous words from its many mouths: “T ** _h_** _E_ **lo** rd o _F_ c **hAN** gE Se _nD_ S H **iS** r **Eg** A _rDS_ A **lEx _A_** _n_ d **eR**. **a** Ll i _S_ **a** s _PlA_ **N** neD. _Ha_ h **A**...”

_“What a day.”_ thought the Inquisitor and allowed herself to sigh. After they had had purified this place she wanted nothing more than have a good long bath and a relaxing prayer session. She had lost a lot of good men today and that frustrated her. But why made her seeing Osivae´s broken body being cradled by Alexander feel almost... melancholic?


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor healthy.

Chapter 14

The meeting with the command staff was bleak.

Even though both the genestealer cult and a greater daemon of Tzeench had been eliminated the cost of doing so had been great. The Craftworld had lost thousands of its soldiers to the warp´s trickery and their best farseer had fallen in battle.

The grief seemed to cloud the judgement of some of the elders. Especially Colonel Callyth appeared quite aggravated, because he thought Alexander responsible for Osivae´s death. Thankfully Alvara had proven herself to be much more composed and rational in this regard, and had promised to uphold the deal her sister had made and hand over some of the “worthless” artefacts from the treasure vault as payment for Alexander´s services.

She even organized a decent funeral pyre for the Inquisitor´s men without being told to do so, which delighted Telis very much. These brave soldiers who gave their life for the Imperium had earned such treatment at least.

The Inquisitor thought now that their business here was finally finished they could soon return to imperial space. Preferably on a spaceship with direct course at Holy Terra. So it came as shock to her that her subject wanted to stay a little longer. Alexander claimed it was for the sake of the girl, Osivae´s daughter, but she didn’t know if she could believe that.

On her question if he now wanted to examine these mysterious artefacts that were the reason for all their trouble in the first place, he only cryptically answered: “First I´ll have an important visit to make.”

Two hours later and they had arrived at the girl´s house. After no signal came from inside, even after multiple shouts and uses of the doorbell, the Inquisitor was tempted to just break down the door, but Alexander motioned her to stop.

When the door at long last finally opened Telria looked miserable. Her eyes were red and swollen and her air was unkempt. It was obvious that she had cried all night instead of sleeping.

“Greetings Telria. I was part of the mission and was there when... it happened. I personally came, because I wanted to tell you about your mother´s bravery. Would you like to hear what I have to say?”

She just stood there for a moment before she found the strength to invite them inside. After they had settled around a table Alexander spoke with a voice that positively drowned in tenderness and care.

“She died a hero. Without her we all, maybe the whole Craftworld would have been lost. I owe her my life and I want to repay my dept to you.”

He looked her deeply into the eyes.

“Do you want to know what her last words were?”

She could only nod. The tears were starting to burst again.

“She asked me... with her dying breath... to take care of you. She wanted me to take your education into my hands and help you grow into a woman worthy of continuing her legacy. To teach you how to survive in this ruthless galaxy that threatens your people and ultimately took her life. She was very serious about it.”

It slightly confused the Inquisitor what exactly he meant. This wasn’t at all how she had interpreted the Farseer´s last words.

“You hopefully understand how much she meant to me and how close we were, but I am unsure if I can grant her that wish...”

“Why” Telria croaked out. The hurt and confusion in her voice clear for all to hear.

“Because... to fully train you how to become like your mother... so strong and courageous... I would need to take you away from here. Real knowledge cannot be acquired through books and the tales of elders... it has to be earned. You would need to accompany me and that can be really dangerous. We maybe run into scenarios where we have to fight for our lives, spent month away from a comfortable bed or a warm meal, or worst of all... have to lie to people we love. Because duty demands it. Because it´s best for everybody. We may have to suffer so that everybody can live happily. ... And I don’t know if I can expect such sacrifices from you...”

“I´ll do it!”

“Don´t be too hasty here. Are you really sure that you...”

“I am! Mother would have wanted it! If only I had been strong I could have saved her... I will become worthy of her! I promise! Please Argleth take me with you!”

“Very well. I´m not happy with this, but I warned you. You must promise to trust me fully though.”

“I will! I´ll trust you with my life Argleth. I swear to Isha.”

“Good. You honour me my dear. To keep you safe you will have to follow a few very specific rules. Can you do that for me? I don’t want to see you hurt unnecessarily.”

“Of course.”

“First you have to completely and utterly obey my command. When I tell you to lean left you lean left immediately. If I tell you to be quiet and stop breathing you do that until you pass out. If I tell you to fire on a seemingly innocent person you do it, because I know better. Because I have thousands of years of experience; much of which I learned from your dear mother. Do you understand that? I will take full responsibility as your mentor for everything you do. You won´t disappoint me Telria, will you?”

“Yes. I understand completely. ... But what if it´s really dishonourable, like...”

“My dear, everything I do has a reason behind it. I promise you that I will never abuse your trust, because that is what your mother told me to. If the time ever comes for something like that I will explain my motives behind it to you fully. Life is not always pretty we both know that, but some things just have to be done for the greater good of all life in the galaxy. Is that not reasonable?”

“Y-yes. Thank you.”

“There is nothing to thank me for my dear Telria.”

He smiled at her deeply and squeezed her hands.

“As far as I am concerned you are the family I always wanted and never had. Even if you don’t believe me now I can tell you that you are most precious to me and want nothing but the best for you. Only through seeing you grow and flourish will I be able to repay all the kindness and generosity I received from your family.”

For the first time in the conversation the Inquisitor saw her smile as well. Telria promptly hugged Alexander and clung to him as if he was a lifeline. He just rested one hand on her back while the other softly stroked her hair

“We will speak about the rest tomorrow. I am sure you are very tired my dear. Many trials and hardships await us my sweet Talria, but with you talent and my skill we can overcome everything. Together?”

“Together.” she replied convinced.

“Now than, back to your room with you and sleep well. Think of the woman you want to become. Think of all the wonders you will want to create. These thoughts will guide you on your path. Never lose hope and good night my dear.”

“Until tomorrow.”

She sounded almost exited.

The first thing that came to the Inquisitor´s mind as the door closed was: “Why are you wasting your time on that girl?”

“I´m not ´wasting my time´ Inquisitor. I told you already that she has much potential that I aim to unleash. She will serve the cause well.”

“What cause?”

“The only one. The survival and dominance of the human race of course.”

And in that moment she saw something behind his silver eyes. Only for the briefest flash. It was so short that she was nearly sure she just imagined it, but she couldn’t have. Those eyes... they were filled with so much guilt and sadness, but also pure determination. These were the eyes of an unstoppable killer. A predator scouring the universe until everyone that dared to oppose him was reduced to only dust and memories. One that used friends and foes alike in an never-ending game of conquest. Only in that moment did she wonder if it had been the right thing to wake him up in the first place.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor content.

Chapter 15

When they arrived at the vault room they had been assigned to the Inquisitor was nearly dying of curiosity. Not that would have been noticeable for the untrained eye. These artefacts were the reason why she had to endure weeks in the presence of these foul xenos. Now that this chapter of her life was nearly finished she just had to know what all their efforts had amounted to. And if Alexander wanted them so eagerly that had to signify their importance. Right? She sent a short prayer to the Emperor that it had been worth it.

Her anxiety only rose more and more when the heavily armoured door slowly slid open to reveal a nearly empty room behind it. As far as she could see there were only three relics inside. Two rested on a small table and a giant one was positioned next to them on the floor. The biggest of them, a giant halo of polished black stone stood upright. Its border was engraved with countless indecipherable runes and glyphs that almost seemed to glow with sickly green energy even though they obviously did not cast any light into the dimly-lit room.

The other two were far harder to describe. Both were made from the same shining, dark, stone-like material and ware also littered with green symbols, but that is where the similarities ended. The one on the left looked like two merged pyramids with a few strange thorns thrown in for good measure. The one on the right appeared to be a sphere stuck in the middle of multiple disks or plates that formed different planes that crossed and divided the orb.

She couldn´t help herself, but the design of these objects seemed somehow vaguely familiar. The problem was only that she couldn’t quite recall her memory of it. Wasn´t something similar pictured in one of her xenology books? Alexander's voice dragged her back from her pondering.

“Please make yourself comfortable. I am going to examine these devices thoroughly which could take a while.”

“Shouldn´t we have brought the techpriest for that?”

“That would have completely unnecessary. With all due respect Inquisitor, but his methods are not sufficient enough to gain any valuable information from these relics.”

Just as if to prove his point streams of liquid metal crawled from his hands and enveloped one of the objects; rippling and shuddering in wavelike patterns. His eyes focused sharply and stood still like a statue. It was obvious that she wouldn’t get anything out of him for a while so she sat down near a wall and started to read through all the reports that had accumulated since a few hours ago.

\--XX-XX-XX--

After what must have been a good 90 minutes of him motionlessly staring at the artefacts he finally turned his attention back to the Inquisitor.

“The good Farseer was right in one aspect: These objects are in and of itself worthless. They do not possess any meaningful power. But as I theorized, that is because they are merely the key for something far greater. A stepping stone for one of the highest of highs a mortal can achieve.”

“A key for what?”

“I don´t know yet.”

She was so shocked by this unexpectedly sobering answer that she had to replay his response in her head again for it to make sense.

“How do you not know what it is? Why would you think that it is that powerful? How are you even sure that it still exists?” she nearly cried.

“When we found these things they were buried under million year old ruins, but even the ancients who built them had no idea what they were. They are far older than anything I have ever seen before and I know that that must mean something! Information about the early ages of the galaxy is sparse, but from what I gathered there has been a war of unimaginable proportions. In the days when the Eldar were still a young race the gods themselves battled and bled through the void. I believe that a piece of one of these gods was hidden away inside a prison to which we now hold the keys. And something as grand and dangerous as that cannot be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. We must find and secure it before someone else does.”

That sounded somehow not very believable, but she decided to humor him.

“And how do we recover it?”

“It is not only a tool to open whatever we will find, but it will also lead the way to it. Please give me more time with the device and I am sure that I will locate it.”

This was all way too hypothetical for her. Nonetheless God-Emperor only knew what really went on in Alexander's mind. Why should she not use this opportunity to her advantage and acquire potentially strategic information? So she just nodded and waved him back to his studies.

Another 40 minutes passed in silence before he raised his voice again.

“Wherever it is... it is outside the domains of realspace at the moment.”

“In the Immaterium?”

Secretly she hoped it was, because then it would be basically impossible to find and she could reasonably deny his ridiculous goose chase.

“No, I have a feeling that this kind technology does not respond well to the powers of the warp. In a way... it is fundamentally opposed to the ruinous powers. So I don’t think it is there.”

“Where then?”

“The only other readily accessible pocket dimension I know of is the Webway.”

That made sense. Perhaps...

“And the biggest webway port in the whole Eldar Empire was Commorragh.”

_“No. No, no, no, no, no! He couldn’t be serious!”_ she panicked inwardly.

“We will not go to Commorragh! I forbid you to deliver all our souls to damnation! You will NOT!”

“Please calm down Inquisitor. I´m just thinking aloud. Even if we were to go there we would have a massive advantage compared to other visitors. I still have the soul-bound spirits of the Drukhari that attacked us on our way here. Their signal is strong and healthy which means that they have successfully integrated and will be able to help us there. How could we possibly fail with help already awaiting us inside?”

When he looked this way into her eyes... How could she refute his argument? It sounded so true. These eyes only told the truth... She knew that. He had proven his sincerity proven often enough... She simply had to believe him. But still...

“It would still be extraordinarily dangerous. The vilest, most perverted, cruellest scum this galaxy has to offer all flock there to satisfy their dark urges. We would be slaughtered! Even worse... we would probably be overwhelmed and used for their amusement even if we are able to find your puppets in the first place!”

“Maybe, but I am confident that that will not happen. Nobody would suspect harmless prisoners to be anything other than harmless prisoners after all. And if almost all of them are normal humans they would be ill-prepared for something stronger.”

“Do you want to say that we should disguise ourselves as slaves?”

“Perhaps. From what I´ve read it is nothing unusual for the Drukhari to capture large quantities of victims at once. If we could slip in there we would be pretty much invisible. An alternative would be for us to dress up as Eldar ourselves.”

_“Disgusting!”_ was the first thought that entered the Inquisitor´s mind.

“We would be subjected to less harassment at the cost of having to fake our identities. We would also get away from the port area easier.” he continued.

As much as it repulsed her she knew the correct decision.

“We will definitely take the second option.” After she realized what she had just said she hastily added: “If we were to theoretically attempt it. What we will definitely not do.”

He seemed slightly amused with her answer which only served to heighten her indignation.

“A combination of the two would be most likely. Your men could act as our captives while we play the part as some rogue slavers returning home.”

“It is still far too risky! What if they discover our masquerade? What if your puppets don’t show up? What if...”

“Do not worry Inquisitor. As soon as we are in their wider vicinity I will be able to contact our agents and call them to our aid. Even without them I am more than capable of tricking a few bored inspectors and overseers to let us through. We then disappear as soon as possible into the shadows where we regroup and make a plan to overtake one of the smaller Kabals.”

What connection had ´taking over a criminal organization´ with ´finding an ancient artefact´?

He answered as if he had read her mind: “This will be necessary to form a base of operations for the duration of our search.”

Somehow she couldn’t disagree with his words even though they didn’t make perfect sense. His silver eyes saw everything after all. They stared into her soul into and... Suddenly she had to involuntarily sigh from the exhaustion that overtook her. He smiled understandingly and laid his hand on her shoulder.

“We will talk more about it later, but I am sure we can come to a mutual agreement. We have invested too much already to give up now. Just a little while longer Telis. Soon we all will be back in the Imperium and you will have so many achievements to show your peers that I am sure you will write history. Many great things await us both, I simply know it.”

The trip back home blurred together to an incoherent stream of colours of lights before the familiar feeling of her blanket enveloped her and she fell asleep with the strong conviction that Alexander was always right.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor strong.

Chapter 16

She had changed her mind. Of course going to Commorragh wasn’t a very appealing prospect, but it was nonetheless necessary. What was the worst that could happen? They would get caught by these stupid xenos, but that was leagues better than chaotic corruption at least. All of that was unimportant, because the will of the Emperor was with them. They could not fail! None could hide before the might of the Imperium of Man so it was time that these disgusting Drukhari were struck where it hurt them the most. This expedition would serve as an example to all who believed themselves safe from the judgement that would damn them to eternal suffering as an enemy of mankind! No mercy could be given to these xenos and she would personally take up the sword of justice to deliver them to their doom even if it cost her own life. Such was the duty of a servant of the Emperor after all.

Her righteous fury burned hot inside her heart and made her nearly look forward to the whole affair. The only things stopping her from getting to it were Eldar courtesy and the need to hammer out some rather essential details.

“How are we even going to get there? Is access even possible?”

“That should be fairly easy with our hosts’ assistance. I still remember a map of most webway gates from around 20 thousand years ago. When the location of nearest one hasn’t been moved since I´ve gone in stasis we should reach it in 4 standard days when we travel at regular speed.”

Now she wondered why he had been in that stasis chamber to begin with. Why would he have wanted to skip time if he was apparently immortal? She really wanted to ask, but for some reason when he locked eyes with her again and smiled she couldn’t bring herself to utter those words. Her tongue felt like lead and her mouth clamped shut.

Before she could worry about that weird feeling any more a familiar voice rang out from the door: “Argleth? You wanted to talk?”

In a matter of seconds he was already at the door and opened it in one fluid motion. He hugged her briefly and bade her inside.

“Why, yes my dear. Our mission starts next week and before this new and exciting part of your life can begin I wanted for you make some preparations. First of get ready to pack all the things you need; mainly clothing, hygiene articles and such. Then pick one and only one single item that reminds you of home, of family, of your friends. But only one! We may have to depart from a lot of things so you can only bring something small.  
And the most important thing of all:” he lowered his head and leaned in close while gripping her hands. “Say farewell to your aunt and thank her for that she has done for you. You may not see her for a long time. And when you do you will have changed; grown into a woman far less naive, far less soft and far less open, but also far stronger and sturdier. A woman that will defy every horror the galaxy can throw at her. But under no circumstances can you tell her that you will depart with me! So be subtle about your intentions. Lie if you have to! If she knew that you will go a journey she would undoubtedly try to stop you. Because she does not understand that some things have to be experienced in person. She would keep you here forever to isolate you from all possible dangers, but at the same time this misguided protectiveness would only stifle your growth. Please Telria, you only have this one chance. Don’t ruin it or else I will be unable to fulfil your mother´s wish.”

“I understand.”

“You will make her happier than you could even imagine when you return home. But not only that, you will make her wholeheartedly proud. Her and the rest of them when they see what you have become. Now go.”

She almost sprinted of out of the room and around the nearest corner.

“You really have a way with children.” she chuckled mockingly.

“What can I say; simply seeing them grow up and develop is a pleasure of mine that I rarely ever get to indulge in.”

She decided to try her luck a little. “Why did you never have children of your own then? Are you unable to?”

He just slightly shook his head. “It was one of many intentional limitations on my abilities and skills.”

“From whom?”

“Myself of course.”

He limited himself? After the zeal in which had spoken earlier about his “cause” she had not expected this explanation. She thought he would do everything if it meant his success.

“Why would you want to cut your potential short? Don´t you want to constantly give your best in every situation?”

“To be flawless and perfect is not always the optimal strategy. Most beings sympathize better with creatures like themselves. Ones that sometimes let their mask slip, make mistakes, react unprofessional... You never want to give your allies or enemies the impression that you are infallible or invincible. They will stop giving their best or start fearing you and then you will lose. So, no Inquisitor. I´m constantly giving my best at not appearing like the best if that makes sense to you.”

Well that was worrying. How many of his quirks and characteristics were only an act to deceive the world? How much of her observational material was now pointless?

Again his uncanny way of predicting her questions startled her: “That does of course not mean that I am merely acting like I made a mistake. It almost always genuinely is real, because I do not like to deliberately fail at something; but I chose the option for me to make errors in the first place. So you could interpret that as me knowingly messing something up.”

What could she say? How could she respond to such an outlandish sentiment? It wasn’t the strangest thing she had ever heard and she could somehow understand Alexander's reasoning, but it still expressed a more inhuman perspective on life than she would have expected. (The irony of this statement was completely lost on the Inquisitor.)

“Be that as it may, but I have arranged a small surprise regarding our transport. With the help of the good General and her best wishes I am hopeful that it will be most pleasing for you. Please follow me to hangar bay 128.”

Again! Why had he always to be so abrupt and unreadable? With his erratic ideas and weird surprises she had to be constantly on her toes and question his every move. Of course he was always right with his actions, but it was exhausting that he only told her about his plans in hindsight. They were partners for Thrones sake!

\--XX-XX-XX--

The transport that had been arranged for them consisted of a seemingly captured imperial vessel. She didn’t care for the less than desirable repair state, but she was nonetheless infuriated. These Eldar dared to claim property of the Imperium as their own? Had they no honour to steal such a sacred machine? Naturally not, they were xenos after all.

It was still a blessing in disguise that they would have to make the journey home onboard a good, reliable piece of Mechanicus technology instead of the weird and overly complex Eldar ships. She hoped the machine-spirit of the poor thing was happy to be liberated from the clutches of the enemy to serve its rightful masters once again.

It would also be considerable easier to travel with, because they would not be immediately shot on sight for the appearance of their ship. A danger that should not be underestimated in most civilized sectors.

So in the end she was glad with what Alexander had been able to acquire.

“Thank you. This will serve its purpose well enough, I suppose.”

“Don´t get too attached Inquisitor.” he mocked. “We will not use it for long.”

What in the Emperor´s name was he up to now? Had she been younger she would have punched him.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor carefree.

Chapter 17

Thankfully he must have realized her growing indignation for his antics even though this seemed only to amuse him more than anything else. His explanation followed quickly and consisted basically of the idea that it would be far more subtle to enter Commorragh onboard a Dark Eldar vessel than an imperial one. So they would need to acquire one on the way. How exactly he planned to do that was apparently something he would tell her after they had departed.

Before that could happen though the protocol had to be followed. The goodbye ceremony was short and straight to point, but filled with tension nonetheless. Firstly because of the heartfelt words that Alvara addressed at Alexander who in turn enraged Callyth by replying in the same intimate way. Secondly because they were about to smuggle Farseer Osivae´s daughter onboard which could be considered an act of treason by some.

Nobody noticed luckily and thanks to Alvara´s help they were able to find the location of the webway portal with relative ease. Here was it that phase one of their plan could begin.

They simply waited around the described area where the gate should be and sent out emergency messages and requests for assistance. Their goal was to bait out any Dark Eldar patrol ships that would think of them as easy prey and attack them before the Inquisitor´s crew would take over their vessels instead.

The plan was somewhat risky, because in order to fool them they had to shut off much of their power and propulsion systems to appear properly weakened, but it was worth the tactical advantages claimed Alexander.

It only took three more days until their trap was finally sprung. Two light cruisers emerged from seemingly nowhere. The only noticeable effect of their sudden appearance was the slightly distorted starlight behind them. After another series of fake cries for help they surrendered on all frequencies without delay. For a moment the two ships drifted indecisively around before they ultimately gave orders in broken Gothic to open the hangar bay.

The Inquisitor for the first time ever happily obeyed a xeno´s command. All troupes readied themselves in the formations they had been assigned to and hid as best as they could.

When the enemy ship had docked and the ramp opened the battle-deprived Drukhari seemed disappointed with the defenceless humans that awaited them. It wasn’t probably half as fun to kill your victims if they didn’t struggle and fought back.

They were even more surprised when they spotted one among them who looked like an Eldar and showed no sign of armaments or resistance to their presence. Even to the warped mind of a Drukhari this seemed rather strange.

A feeling that would only intensify as Alexander addressed the leader directly.

“Are you citizens of Commorragh?”

The Dark Eldar looked irritated at the man who asked such stupid questions without quivering in fear or begging to be spared. Most likely in this moment he thought about a suitable method of torture to punish this kind of insolence.

“Of course you idiot. What do we look like? Craftworlder´s?”

One of his thugs laughed at the joke before he was silenced by an angry snarl.

“I am the Senior Pleasure-master of the Order of the Thorny Breast and you will show me respect worm!”

“Thank you. I just wanted to make sure.” Alexander smiled. “And what do you plan to do with us?”

The leader of the group was now grimacing wildly in disbelief.

“Who dropped you on your head when you were a little suckling? Are you actually retarded or are you joking? I am not in the mood for jokes! We´re going to have our fun with you and your little bitch there.” he pointed at the Inquisitor. “And then we are going to show you the most delicious pains you ever experienced until your little body is totally broken. And then we just sew you back together and repeat the process before you become too wrecked to be interesting. Is that understood you stupid rat?”

Alexander's grin deepened.

“Perfectly. I have no doubts about your intentions anymore.”

In a flash the orb appeared between the two opposing groups and violet and black arcs of lightning surged into the landing party. All light in the room dimmed as if it was sucked in by the blackened hole that soundlessly devoured the souls of his master´s enemies. The whole spectacle only lasted a few heartbeats, but that was enough to send a chill down everyone´s spine.

Like always the now enslaved puppets stood perfectly still and motionless when the energy seized to flow forth; awaiting orders from the one who now reigned over their very being.

“Act normal. You will tell the rest of your troupes that you have subdued us without trouble. Call the rest of your crew here to join in on the debauchery without arousing suspicion. You will protect every human onboard this ship with your life should something go wrong. You will obey every command the Inquisitor here gives as if it was mine. Nod if you understand.”

They all nodded in unison.

“Then go on.”

His word was all they needed and they headed instantly back into the ship to inform the rest.

Half an hour later and the mission “Capture and Subvert” was a total success. All the xenos had been brought under control of the Manipulator-device how Telis called the orb. It was nearly shocking how easy it had been for her subject to take over so many people. The number of souls he could capture seemed limitless and the possibilities were truly fascinating.

Her men reluctantly took up quarters on the slightly bigger cruiser to play their roles as slaves should the need arrive and to not be separated in case of an emergency. Either all of them made it out alive or none of them would.

The smaller ship was subsequently plundered and its crew installed as puppets to keep it running; functioning barely different than servitors. As soon as everybody was at their designated place working at maximum efficiency their newly formed fleet of three ships took off into the portal with the help of the Dark Eldar captain.

The webway was one of strangest places she had the displeasure of ever laying eyes on. When their ships first entered it appeared like an enormous, twisting tunnel with no defining features other than that the walls seemed to consist of a thick orange fog.

Later this changed as bone-like protrusions began to spiral alongside the walls and grow from them in twisting and incomprehensible ways. Then inside ruins of some sort the ship´s scanners registered for the first time multiple life signs. They moved quickly while their small fleet approached, but remained unseen when they flew past. Creatures that had probably learned to fear the wrath or curiosity of the Drukhari passing by.

These ruins appeared more and more frequently until they covered all available surfaces which was a bit disorientating considering this included the ceiling as well as the side walls. There was obviously no up or down in these tunnels, but the Inquisitor had to ask herself who could have ever lived under conditions like these. Heat signatures confirmed that some of them were still inhabited though which signalled that at least the residents of this sad place were unperturbed by their home´s geometrical distortion.

At the begin of their third day of traversing this maze through which Alexander somehow knew way, the gigantic spaces around them grew even wider and were filled with greenish mist that clung to every surface as if it was sentient. Considering this very alien environment it very well might have been.

Slowly, as if artfully lifting a curtain on stage, black spires rose out of the fog and revealed the largest cavern the Inquisitor had ever seen. Large enough to fit maybe 10 craftworlds as she had to admit with awe. And inside crawled and twisted it in all its terrible glory, like a tumour or a rampant disease: The dark city Commorragh.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor lively.

Chapter 18

Commorragh wasn’t a cohesive metropolis like an orderly hive city on an imperial planet. It was more so a loose collection of pocket dimensions connected through various logical and illogical pathways. This particular part though very much looked like an unbelievably massive valley filled with a sheer endless forest of black and grey towers and spires. Each of them seemed to stretch on into infinity until they were obscured by the strange green fog. If this was real or an illusion caused by the dimensional distortion was impossible to discern. And through all this thicket of tangled skyscrapers weaved equally innumerable air- and spacecrafts of various sizes and origins in dazzling speeds.

They were standing on the main bridge overlooking the architectural chaos below when Alexander asked the Captain out of the blue: “Who is your Archon´s most trusted friend?”

“I do not know with certainty, but it is probably Lady Yzineza.”

“Where is she now?”

“The rumours I heard told that she is still on a raid. It would be nonetheless possible that she already returned in our absence.”

“Do you have pictures and voice samples of her?”

“Yes. She was once onboard for inspection. The footage from the security pict-stealers should still be in our archives.”

“Show it to me.”

He went off to wherever on this damned ship one would store such information.

“What do you want with that information? Impersonate her?” the Inquisitor asked.

“Exactly.” he answered without a hint of irony.

“But she´s a woman! How...?”

“Enhanced vocal cords remember?” he chirped in a girlish voice.

The contrast with his emotionless, stoic face was too much for her and she simply had to chuckle at the stunning display of acting. Half-jokingly she quipped: “Should I call you Alexandra then?”

“I only chose a gender, because it is easier for the most part if people know how to refer to you. And if you change that all the time they get confused and sceptical so I try not to do this whole ´girl-thing´ too often.”

They were interrupted by another crew member who fumbled with a console of some sort. “Master, there is an incoming call from the port tower. Should I answer?”

“Open a channel and let me do the talking.”

He pressed multiple buttons with indefinable symbols and a soft humming noise filled the room.

“Back so soon? Forgot your armour back home or what?” came an unpleasantly raspy voice from the vox-casters.

“Some stupid humans were drifting by just outside the gate. Easiest haul of my life I tell you.”

“Whatever. Lucky bastard.”

“A nice day to you too buddy. Maybe sometime you´ll get to do something more interesting than stare at a wall. Ha ha.”

The connection broke off.

“No need to show off.”

“Well I had to demonstrate my skills somehow. It wouldn’t be acceptable if you had to rely on just my word with such an essential component of the plan.”

The way he smirked made it clear he wasn’t serious.

Suddenly he gripped his forehand in an exaggerated manner. “Ah, how could I have forgotten? Even with us delivering a surprise gift to the Kabal the common rules of security demand that we announce our return in apron. Else I fear we will be mistaken for the intruders we truly am. You there,” he pointed at same Drukhari who still operated the communications station “inform them that you all have returned early with a special gift.”

They had gone over this plan in the last few days and it had somehow grown on her. Yes, it was reckless and a bit stupid, but so was their whole expedition into the dark city. At least it would definitely not be boring.

“It is probably a ploy, but what would your idea of a ´surprise´ for the Archon be? A bunch of human captives is barely something noteworthy for this scum.”

“A good question. One that will hopefully answer itself in a couple of minutes.”

So she waited patiently and absorbed all the while the disgustingly intriguing scenery outside the windows. She noticed something was up, because Alexander turned to face the door mere moments before it actually opened and the Eldar girl stepped through.

“Ah there you are my dear. What took you so long?”

“I´m sorry Argleth. I just wanted to make sure I look acceptable enough when leaving my quarters.”

“You mustn’t worry about that. You always look wonderful. A beautiful blossoming flower such as you is no need to make itself even prettier.”

She slightly blushed while the Inquisitor wanted to roll her eyes.

“But your pleasing appearance is not why I called you here today. We will infiltrate a Kabal and you can come with us if you should choose so. It will be very dangerous, but a valuable experience nonetheless. What do you think?” he smirked energetically.

 _“Wait... was the girl the ´surprise´ Alexander had been talking about?”_ the Inquisitor asked herself.

“I don’t know... What could I even do to help you?”

“My dear you won´t have to do anything but follow my orders like always. Do everything as I say and nothing bad will ever befall you. I promise on my life Telria.”

“If you say so...”

“You will be very play an instrumental role, but it will be nothing you won´t be able to handle. But in the end the decision is yours. Will you come with me?”

“Yes.”

He produced a similar looking ear piece from his palm like the one he had given the Inquisitor.

“Lovely. Just put that in your ear and you will be able hear my instructions without us even needing to be in the same room.”

Just as she hesitantly took the device the captain finally returned with a small data slate in hand.

“All we had about her Master.”

“It seems luck has blessed me today. Everything fits into place perfectly whenever I need it.”

“Don´t jinx it. To tempt fate is the fasted way to get unnecessary tests from the Emperor bestowed upon you!”

“How could I worry about that when I have the best company that I could ask for? There are no people in this galaxy that I would be happier to spend time with than you two. With you by my side I can overcome every obstacle this lousy excuse of ´fate´ can throw at me! Destiny after all is shaped by the hopes and dreams of man and we all have more than enough of those. Ha!”

She was at a loss of words. Whatever had possessed Alexander just now hadn’t shown itself earlier. This kind of bravado was certainly new...

“You don’t believe me? Let me demonstrate it to you. We will take over the Kabal without me even using the orb again! Only through our wits and our innate abilities will we persevere!”

“W-What...” stumbled Telria and the Inquisitor honestly felt the same.

“That is idiotic! It is way too risky! Why would you lock our trump card away?”

“Remember Inquisitor, I do not take uncalculated risks. Everything I do has at least one purpose behind it. Even my mistakes are somewhat intentional. I would not do this if I wouldn’t trust in our team to pull this off.”

The discussion ended shortly after and the inquisitor went back to her chambers to properly rest before the coming mission tomorrow. She had put up a token resistance, but deep within her mind she knew that Alexander was always right. She could trust him with her life. With everything. He would take care of all of her problems. And with these thoughts she slept well this night.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor puzzled.
> 
> Thanks to "Hogweedman" for leaving their friendly opinion.

Chapter 19

Even though she had witnessed his inhuman transformation many times it had never been as disturbing as this one. Probably because under all the different facial features and his slightly altered body language she had been able to see his true face shine through. If one looked hard enough his normal appearance would reveal itself and it became easy to ignore how the rest of him had changed. But now...

There was no trace of Alexander under this visage. The woman that now stood before her looked utterly alien with her unnaturally pale complexion and the mean, pinched eyes that had changed colour like one would change clothing. Her lips were thin and painted deep blue while they pressed together in an intimidating display of disdain and barely restrained hatred. In the meantime as his face morphed his clothing twisted and reformed as well. Gone were his long flowing robes and replaced instead with a loincloth and some sort of leather harness that scarcely covered an impressive breast size. Where and how he had grown these in just a couple of seconds was beyond her. He even seemed to have shrunken a bit! How was that possible?

What once had been a tall and extremely handsome young man had no become a well endowed, but still very unpleasant looking Dark Eldar wych.

Alexander’s stiff expression softened up a bit as he smiled and addressed her in his new silky and (to her embarrassment) very erotic voice. “Do not be afraid. I am the same person as I have always been. Now you hopefully understand why I mostly stick to one appearance at a time. Be that as it may, I have something serious to ask of you Inquisitor.”

“What is it?”

“Forgive me for this transgression, but if you wish to accompany me you will have to change into something more inconspicuous than your normal attire. This” he gestured at her “will not suffice.”

“I thought I just pretend to be a prisoner? Can´t you just handcuff me and bring me in as your slave or something like that.”

“While that would certainly be a possibility my dear pupil will already fill that role fully.”

“Oh, she´s your pupil now?”

“I have promised to take care of her and mould her into a person worthy of respect and admiration. And I am man of my word after all so expect great things from her in the future.”

“We have strayed from the topic I believe.”

“Indeed. Please take these clothes and put them on for now.”

Where had he gotten them from so fast? The only logical explanation was that he had prepared them beforehand fully knowing that she would make the mistake. Throne damn it!

“If you insist...”

“Thank you Inquisitor. I have taken great care to select the most tasteful articles available.”

Luckily that part was true. Compared to the skimpy and overly revealing fashion pieces that Alexander´s puppets wore these clothes seemed almost modest. They were still a bit too tight for her liking and hugged some parts of her body uncomfortably, but it was a miracle that they fit at all. Had Alexander altered them so they were closer to human proportions? She wouldn’t put it past him.

“Are they to your liking?“ he politely enquired after she came out of her improvisatory changing room.

Of course they were not. They were made by the foulest of xenos after all. Nonetheless she smiled and nodded.

“Good. Now this may feel strange, but I assure you nothing bad will befall you. Imagine it like wearing a mask.”

Before she could ask what in the Emperor´s name he meant Alexander touched her forehead. Liquid silver snaked across his hand and spread over her face. The sensation was somehow relaxing. Like a warm blanket being draped over her body and embracing her firmly to keep her warm. After just a few seconds he retracted his arm and she lifted her own hand to feel her new face. From the feeling she got she could tell that it had to be spread as thin as paper, but it held firm as iron under her prodding.

“It will look convincing for anyone who is not looking for this kind of stuff. However try not to move your face too much or talk a lot. Not that you will need too. At best just shake or nod your head when asked something.”

“How much of this stuff do you have?” she wondered in awe, still touching her fake skin.

“Enough. To satiate your curiosity... I can produce more of it depending on how much I need. It just takes normal biomass that I acquire through regular food. My body itself only requires sustenance every few months or so, but if I ate only out of necessity I would have missed out on all of our wonderful meals together. Wouldn´t that be a shame?”

A small, normally entirely suppressed part of her mind giggled in delight at the meaningless flattery. It was promptly ignored and marked to be punished later.

“Still won´t they notice that I am not exactly the typical Eldar?”

“If you stay close to me and keep your hood up nobody will even acknowledge you.”

 _“Hopefully.”_ she added mentally.

“Come now. We have been granted passage and even an audience with the Archon. We must ready ourselves lest we want to invite failure.”

Eight of his puppets accompanied them when they boarded a smaller aircraft together with Telria in purposely dishevelled attire. The sight of her disbelieving stare at the handcuffs which according to Alexander´s vehement claims could be easily removed was a joy to behold for the Inquisitor. The poor girl was probably scared to death by the prospect of marching as a prisoner straight into the domain of one of her most hated enemies in the galaxy.

The Inquisitor´s soldiers hid themselves in small pockets around the ship and remained on standby to lend their support if necessary. Everything was going according to plan so far and it was a little unnerving for Telis to see everything working without complications. Even though the hardest part hadn’t even begun yet.

Unsurprisingly upon arrival they were immediately greeted by a dozen well armed guards that thankfully refrained from searching them after Alexander gave them a truly withering glare. Subsequently their track through the gardens before the main house remained equally as undisturbed.

The ´mansion´, if one could call it that, was a 10 story tall mess of small towers, balconies, windows of different heights and statues in all sizes and forms. This architectural monstrosity was necessarily ugly just plain confusing to look at.

Another set of guards awaited them at the entrance and opened the gates for them. She had expected torture devices, blood stained walls and strung up corpses, but was disappointed to find only expensively decorated hallways full of paintings and strange flowers. The dungeons were probably below them or in an entirely different building altogether.

On and on they went in silence through a maze of interchangeable halls and corridors that twisted and turned in the most unexpected ways before one of the soldiers that escorted them finally spoke up: “Lord Furediaq awaits you in the yellow hall Milady.”

“I know already. Why are you telling me this?” bit Alexander with a voice that even made the Inquisitor inwardly flinch.

“Forgive me Milady. I thought it would be good to know where we are going.”

“You are not supposed to think Gahutzar. And ´ _we´_ aren’t going anywhere. Just do your duty.”

Where had he learned the name of this guard they met not even 15 minutes ago? Maybe he overheard a conversation somehow... Her pondering was cut short when they came to an abrupt halt in front of a giant closed doorway and Alexander subtly pulled her hood further down.

The generously gilded door swung open and revealed an equally golden interior with many laughing skull motives and other tasteless ornaments strewn about. Of course as an inquisitor she had seen many cathedrals and even living spaces decorated in a similar manner, but always with purpose. To pay tribute to the inherent beauty of the human form or to show the dedication of the members of the Imperium even after death. This place on the other hand had none of that style and meaning. Countless body parts were painted and sculpted with great finesse and artistry, but were used in the same thoughtless manner as a child would draw flowers around a picture. Well if the child didn’t exactly come from a death world and had seen a single flower in their life.

All of this however drew her attention for only single second until her gaze fell upon the end of the hall and her eyes widened in shock. There besides the Archon´s throne stood seemingly the exact twin of Alexander´s new form. Lady Yzineza had arrived before them!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It´s been hard week in school so my updates are a bit slow and I am not entirly satisfied with the quality of the chapter, but I tried to get this out as soon as possible. So stay tuned... I hope it gets better in the next few weeks.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor amused.

Chapter 20

“Stop right there you whore!”

“What?” muttered the Archon who looked totally confused by the situation at hand.

“How dare you steal my ship and degrade my appearance with your filthy body you thrice cursed changeling? Guards execute this abomination!” yelled Alexander.

“Nonsense! I am the real one! You come here after me and start to accuse me so of course you are the fake one here. Your deception means nothing to us all!”

“Traitorous bitch, than tell me when and with whom you came here! Show us all your flimsy lies! Now!”

“I will not obey the orders of this foul intruder! My Lord, silence her at once!”

“Ha! Now you revealed your true face! The truth does not taste sweet to your rotten tongue, eh? I can prove my origins; can you?”

“Do you expect me to believe that? No proof is needed for I...”

“Silence! You there” he pointed at Alexander “if you have evidence to identify yourself as Yzineza then present it.”

He bowed, his face still a mask of barely suppressed hatred. “Of course my Lord. This thing over there” his hateful glare turned to the woman at the other side of the hall. “ambushed me on our last expedition and assumed my identity before sabotaging my comms and leaving me to die. Only through pure luck was I able to make contact with Captain Bazharior and made haste to return immediately.”

“Captain, can you confirm this?” asked the Archon.

“It is true. Lady Yzineza here came onboard our ship around a week ago after hers was stolen by an unknown invader. We were just finished with an extraordinarily easy raid so we promptly turned back and came here as soon as we could under the cover of secrecy to not alert this powerful intruder with our presence. It seems sadly we were already too late my Lord. Please forgive us.” the captain-turned-puppet reported stoically.

Was the Drukhari simply so good in making up a story or had Alexander told him these words through one of his ear pieces? All these constant questions about his plans were driving her crazy. She knew she wouldn´t have to worry about Alexander betraying her, after all he was always right, but her inquisitorial mindset made it hard to trust anything but the God-Emperor himself.

“Lies! Nothing but lies! My Lord, you cannot believe this ridiculous fib! I will strike her down myself! I...”

“Enough!”

Her shrieking abruptly stopped.

“I´ve heard enough of this shit! Be quiet and let me think in peace.”

Silence suffocated the room for ten agonizing seconds before he spoke up again: “Come here. I want to look you in the eyes. Nobody can hide from me in plain sight.”

Really? That was the best that man could come up with in time? The Inquisitor could only laugh silently at his stupidity. Were all Drukhari this arrogant to believe they could not be fooled by outward appearance? If yes, then it was truly a wonder that they hadn’t been all wiped out already. Why not just question Alexander what they had last talked about before they parted ways?

Only in this moment as he left her side to traverse the hall did she remember that Alexander's “pupil” was still with them. She had almost forgotten that the girl was still here due to her role as surprise for the Archon now being unneeded. Just from a quick glance one could discern Telria´s obvious fear and that she seemed completely lost in the current situation. To mask her vulnerability the Inquisitor stepped forward and quickly closed the distance between the two. A light tip to the side and a reassuring nod was thankfully all it took to calm the girl down.

Meanwhile Alexander in his disguise had confidently positioned himself in front of the throne. He kneeled and looked up deep into the Archon´s eyes: “I am here my Lord. Do you see that it is me? The one who has served you faithfully all these years? I am not one for begging, but please recognize me...”

...

“Yes...” was the barely audible whisper from Lord Furediaq´s lips.

With one sign of his hand his guards grabbed the real Lady and held her still.

Slowly he stood up and walked over to Yzineza; his eyes never leaving the ones of the Archon.

“Let me expose her deception for all to see.”

It was nearly tragic how the wych struggled in pure desperation against the four guards holding her down. The image of her hateful, heartbroken visage didn’t linger on too long however, because when her body double softly touched her forehead it disappeared. Like wax melting off a candle her features changed and were slowly replaced with those of an entirely different woman.

He had used the same technique as with her face! That trick was devious and more than a little frightening if she thought about all the possibilities one could abuse it for. Not that Alexander would ever do something like that of course. He was to be trusted. Maybe some part of her mind tried to protest, but she simply couldn’t bring herself to really doubt him.

“Do you see, my Lord? That is only a pretender.”

As he withdrew his hand so did her face change back into its original shape.

“Kill her now! I cannot suffer her existence any longer. I take offence at every moment she dares to draw breath anymore.”

Strangely enough the restrained woman seemed oddly docile. Almost as if she was in some kind of trance. She didn’t even try to put up any kind of resistance.

Another hand sign and with a sickening crunch her head fell to the floor before the Inquisitor could even realize that one of the guards had drawn his blade. Dark blood gushed from the wound and quickly formed an almost black puddle at the ground until the now lifeless corpse was dragged off by some nearby servants.

It felt unreal that it actually worked. Telis quickly thanked the Emperor for keeping them safe and making these wretched xenos suffer a humiliating deception. Even though the death of the wytch had been far too kind it was satisfying to watch nonetheless.

“My Lord, you have my deepest gratitude. You have freed us all from a terrible blight. Without your wisdom to see the truth all could have been lost.“ Alexander bowed immaculately, but seemed suddenly very exhausted if his body language was anything to go by. “This journey has been very straining. If you would please allow me return to my chambers... I would like to rest.”

“Go on, my dear. “

“Thank you, my Lord.”

With these words he turned around and led the Inquisitor and Telria out of the room.

“Where are we going?” she whispered when they were out of earshot.

“To our new chambers of course. Don´t worry, we will hopefully not stay for long.”

“And how do you know where they are? It will look suspicious if we have to ask the servants here.”

“I gained insight into Yzineza´s memories when I touched her. Now the Archon will never be able to tell the difference between us.” he explained to her over the ear piece. This time without using his mouth at all.

“You didn’t tell me you could do that. Since when are you able to read minds?”

“The procedure is rather invasive and would not go unnoticed by the receiving party, because it leaves permanent damage. So I had no use for it until now.”

“Why are we then resting now? Couldn´t you just extract the information about the items you search for from the Archon? We just would have to simply lure him into a private room and then flee afterwards.”

“No need to make haste Inquisitor. Everything will come in due time. Do you not trust me?”

There was not the slightest hesitation in her answer.

“Of course I do.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make the Emperor enthusiastic.

Chapter 21

The chambers were quite spacious and certainly finely crafted, but ultimately ruined by the terrible decor. Countless pictures of screaming faces and carpets apparently made from human skin were only some of the aesthetical crimes that made spending time inside them a less than pleasurable experience. Even more so when you had to wait in them alone.

Alexander had excused himself for a few minutes to deal with ´important matters´ back on the main ship. He had promised to return with a surprise of some sort, but was still absent. So the Inquisitor had to pass time some other way. Trying to distract herself from the dreadful tapestry she began to disassemble and clean her weapons that she had hidden underneath her cloak.

Proudest among her instruments of death was her custom miniature bolt-pistol. It could only hold a few rounds, but that mattered not if she made them count. The element of surprise was often as important as the actual firepower itself. Because of its diminutive size she could carry it around mostly undetected what had saved her life more than once.

So distracted by her thoughts was she that she didn’t even notice Alexander´s presence in the room. A blink of the eye and he was there as if had just appeared out of thin air. Expertly hiding her startled expression she raised a questioning eyebrow at the device he sat down on a table nearby.

Alexander only smiled and stage-whispered in a voice dripping with exaggerated excitement: “Well, I have some good news. According to our artefacts the location of our target object is quite near. At least in the general area of Commorragh.”

“Because that narrows it down _soooo_ much.” she sarcastically added.

“At first glance not much, but coordinates are not the only information they display. This one” he nodded in the direction of the relic that looked like two fused pyramids “also shows the direction we have to travel.”

“That cannot possibly work with all this dimensional distortion around here, can it?”

“As expected of you Inquisitor, you have deduced the crux of the matter already. It seems I have chosen my partner well.”

How had he ´chosen´ her? Wasn´t she the one who woke him up?

“This function will only work when we are in the same sub-space bubble as the object in question. The one we currently reside in is sadly not the right one.”

“Knowing you, you already have a plan to search the others as well?”

It was less of question and more of an observation.

“Well well... It seems I am an open book to you. To answer your question: I have a feeling that the Archon will somewhat assist us in this endeavour. Some of the other kabals have become a bit too sure of themselves after all, don’t you think?”

She had of course no knowledge or interest in the political landscape of the Dark City, but the idea was obvious enough. Invade other realms and check each one if they contained what they were looking for.

“You probably can be very convincing when it is required, but we will need a better reason for starting a small-scale war than this. How about revenge for what they did to your ´person´? If this had been a real attempt at espionage it would have been so poor that I myself would immediately retaliate just to cleanse this galaxy of the incompetency behind such a plan.”

“Harsh words, but deserved ones. Indeed impersonating somebody and letting them roam freely is foolishness of the highest order. My own gamble in this regard nearly didn’t pay off, but that merely made the whole ordeal all the more thrilling in my opinion. Wouldn´t you agree Inquisitor?”

“So many questions for me today Alexander; I am surprised. Normally I play the unlucky part in our discussions that has to fight for every scrap of information by pulling it out of you.”

The annoyance in her voice was only partially feigned.

He just laughed. “Ha, I apologize. It was not my intention to get on your nerves Inquisitor. It´s just that I enjoy our conversations so much that I want to keep them going. Telling you everything from the start would be way too fast and boring. And I would be missing out on your essential feedback along the way.”

Since when had Alexander been such a daredevil? Prioritizing fun over effectiveness didn’t seem his style. So she simply had to ask: “I didn’t take you for the type of person that values their amusement more than their job.”

“Please don’t misunderstand me Inquisitor. I would never ´waste time´ as you probably call it in a situation that truly requires my full attention. That being said most of the time efficiency isn’t everything. As I already tried to tell you multiple times mistakes and irregularities are what makes us human; what makes life worth living in the first place. So please allow me these small quirks to feel as if I am still part of the same species as you. It is very important to me.”

His supposed humanity was obviously a sore point for him even after their first argument about it.

“Well it´s good to hear that unlike some of us you don’t have to drink your head off to feel human again.” she dryly remarked.

He grinned back. “Would be of no use anyway. Enhanced poison filtration would never allow me to get dunk no matter how hard I tried.”

“Sounds like hell to me.”

Of course she was no alcoholic, but being able to celebrate a successful mission with a fine bottle of amasec was not a pleasure she wanted to miss in her life. Even Calvaderan gut-rot had helped her through some dark times (although she would never openly admit that).

“Now then, I am deeply sorry to leave you again, but I believe a visit to our dear Telria is in order. The poor girl must be frightened out of her mind right now. I have brought you your data slate” he pointed at a small packet on the table “so the next few hours or so shouldn´t be too dull I hope.”

“I can come with you.”

“No this won’t be necessary. We will have to discuss some private matters and the dear girl is no condition for additional visitors I fear. Nonetheless I will pass your kind words on to her. I am sure she will appreciate your concern. Until then...”

He gave a cheery hand wave and was gone.

Now she was stuck staring at the horrendous interior design again. Best to trap the door and windows first and then she could take a good nap. A least this way she wouldn’t have to pay attention to her surroundings.

Telis thought better of it when she felt oddly observed by the paintings that seemed to follow her with their eyes around the room. It was not safe to sleep in a house like this. Even with Alexander around.

So she did what she always did when she was on hostile territory with time to spare: establish a defensive parameter.

Tables were put on their sides, chairs served as coping and area denial and a particularly heavy cabinet was used as cover. From her position in the corner the whole room could be surveyed and controlled. It probably hadn’t been a necessary precaution, but it was still satisfying.

With a stupid grin on her face that was purely reserved for private situations did she finally sit down and began to read on her slate. What a day...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Currently suffering from a minor case of writers block and a lot of stress. Please excuse my lateness. Update should happen soon...


End file.
